Defenceless
by LNicol1990
Summary: After eating a poisoned pear, Arthur begins to behave strangely. Can Merlin save him before it's too late?
1. Poisoned Pear

Disclaimer's note: I do not own Merlin, Arthur, Uther, Gaius, Morgana, Gwen, or Nimueh. I do, however, own the poor serving girl.

Author's note: The end of this chapter may not be suitable for younger readers.

* * *

The water was cool and calm within the basin. The darkness of the room turned the water into a mirror, reflecting the face of the sorceress, Nimueh, as she carved her symbol into the sphere and onto flesh. The sound of crunching and scraping echoed in her quiet room.

Once that task was done, words left her lips as she spoke the enchantment. A coy smile lay on her face as the incantation ended and the spell was cast. She looked down into the basin, disturbing the water and turning it into a viewing mirror.

Two young men, one was of fair hair and noble stature, while the other was of dark hair and held the stance of a commoner. Both were relaxing beside a high wall, speaking to each other, and smiling at the topic of their conversation.

"Enjoy your time, while you can," Nimueh sneered. "I will see you die yet… Merlin!"

* * *

Arthur sighed as he looked up at the castle walls, his boredom was evident. He cocked his head to aside, in the direction of his manservant, Merlin.

"My father has ordered me to see him in the great hall," he stated, unimpressed. "There's a trade agreement today and he wants me to observe."

"Sounds fun," Merlin replied, unenthusiastically.

"Well," Arthur stood up. "I won't be suffering it alone."

He looked down at Merlin's surprised face and smiled a cocky grin.

"What? Me?" Merlin stuttered.

"Who else?" Arthur gestured around them, showing that they were alone. "Come on, Merlin, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can get this over with."

Merlin scrambled to his feet and raced after Arthur. And Arthur, seeing an opportunity for fun, began to run to the hall, forcing Merlin to chase him, breathlessly, down the corridors.

As they reached the Great Hall, the pair of them both stopped to regain their breath. Arthur stopped panting first, but waited patiently for Merlin to also slow his breathing.

"Are you ready?" Arthur asked. "Okay, let's go in," he replied to Merlin's nod.

They entered wordlessly, and took their correct places. Arthur, by his father, King Uther's right side, and Merlin stood behind Arthur's chair. Gaius and Gwen had already arrived.

Gaius gave Merlin a disapproving look, while Gwen smiled at him, before motioning to his left arm and brushing her own arm. Taking the hint, Merlin looked down and quickly proceeded to brush off random burs and grass shoots off his coat.

Uther leaned over to Arthur and whispered quietly to his son, slouched in his chair.

"Arthur, we are trying to impress these visitors. Sit straight!"

Without turning his head, Arthur glared at his father for a moment, before conceding and sitting back in his chair, shifting uncomfortably for a moment and then sitting still. His eyes did not move, but continued to stare at the doors, where the visitors would appear from.

Morgana pursed her lips slightly, pitying Arthur's predicament, before she also returned her gaze to the doors. She saw from the corner of her eye Uther waving for the doors to be opened.

A young serving girl, with faded clothes and a pale headscarf keeping her long, red hair back, walked timidly into the centre of the room. On her wrists were two large bracelets with intricate patterns on them, and hanging off her arm was a basket that contained fruit.

"What is this?" Uther demanded.

"Uhhh, my master did not want to bring his trade onto your lands, without your expressed permission, your Majesty," the serving girl explained nervously.

Uther examined the girl, as did everyone else in the hall. No one had to look at her with much effort to see that she was trembling from head to toe.

"What is it that your mater wishes to trade?" Uther asked, gentler this time, although it was still in a business tone.

"We… have a delicacy on our land, a sweet pear. It is spoken highly of from the barons of my master. He thought that he would offer this to you and to your kingdom, but said that he would discuss the finer points of this trade with you, himself."

The girl shifted from foot to foot. She glanced around, as if expecting a reprisal.

"Why did your master not come to me with this trade himself?" Uther asked, suspicious.

"As I said, your Majesty, the pear is a delicacy. He stayed behind to ensure that none were taken, by bandits or by his own men," she explained, suddenly seeming tense. "I have two pears with me, your Majesty. I was told that you have a son, and my master wished you both to try the pears."

Arthur's eyes suddenly transformed from boredom to an eager interest. With the prospect of sample goods before him, he was now more focused on the discussions.

Merlin noticed the change in Arthur, and, as he also noticed, so did the girl. He realised that she seemed almost concerned that Arthur had taken interest. But maybe she was worried that he would disapprove of the fruit and she would be the bearer of bad news, or she just wanted to try the pear hersel

Regardless, Uther beckoned her forwards, and she obeyed. She met his eyes for a split second, before turning her gaze to the basket that contained the two fruit. She carefully selected one and placed it on front of Uther, as he had made no attempt to take it from her hand. She then moved across to Arthur and, after meeting his gaze for a moment, placed the other pear down before him.

With the task done, she retreated to her previous position in the centre of the room. She eyed the two pieces of fruit warily, as if she were afraid that they were about to jump up and dance.

Uther picked up his pear first. He turned it in his hand, examining the colour, skin texture and weight. He then raised it to his face, breathing in the aroma. He moved it away for a moment, a calculating look on his face. Then, apparently satisfied, he took a bite. He chewed it slowly, savouring the taste and texture of the flesh.

Everyone waited, holding their breaths, as he deliberated on whether or not to approve the fruit. There was a universal sigh when he finally nodded his head, although Merlin noticed that the girl did not seem so pleased.

Arthur then proceeded to examine his own pear, turning it one way and then another, smelling like his father had. But it was obvious that he had little interest in examining the pear; he wanted to taste it. And, soon enough, he also bit into the pear. He chewed it faster than Uther had, but was still analysing the taste and texture. His eyebrows rose in approval and he continued to eat the pear.

As Arthur had tried the pear, the girl lowered her head and, Merlin noticed, a solitary tear ran down her face. In response to his approval and continued consumption, more tears began to fall. Her chest rose and fell in a staggered way as she struggled to maintain level breathing, and the nervous trembling beforehand became uncontrollable shaking.

Her behaviour was quickly noticed and Gaius, fearing that she was suffering some kind of seizure, rushed to her side. As he reached her, she crumpled to the floor. Restricted sobbing came from her in small bursts, as she tried to maintain control of herself.

"Please forgive me!" she cried once Gaius touched her shoulder, her voice was several octaves higher. "I had no choice! I didn't want to come here! I didn't want to do this task! But she gave me no choice!" She threw out her wrists, showing the bracelets and Gaius proceeded to examine them.

Uther, Morgana and Arthur had all risen from their seats by this point, and Merlin and Gwen stood beside their master and mistress, respectively. They were all staring at the young girl with the strange bracelets.

Then Gaius turned to stare, horror-struck and dumbfounded, at Uther. He then turned to stare at Arthur, back to Uther, and then back to the girl.

"What was in the pears?" he demanded, though he spoke gently.

"Just one," the girl shook her head. "It was only his," she glanced up at Arthur. "She told me that didn't matter if the king ate or not… but she wanted the prince to…" she trailed off, her body twitching as it tried to curl up.

"What was in the pear?" Gaius repeated.

"I don't know what it does. I don't know what it does," she cried, her voice breaking.

"What was in the pear?"

"A… pois-" she suddenly broke off.

She stared down at her arms. One of the bracelets was turning a different colour, turning from the dull gold, to red to a glowing white. The smell of burning was in the air.

The hall was suddenly filled with the girl's screeches and screams of pain. The sound of dull thuds echoed as she vainly tried to beat down the flames that erupted over her. And then suddenly, all sound was gone, as was the girl.


	2. A Long Day

Author's note: I want to make it clear that this is a story about Arthur. Merlin will be a major character, but it's meant to be focused on Arthur. I only say this due to two of the reviews.

* * *

Arthur chewed his lip as he surveyed the Great Hall. His father had his head in his hands; Morgana looked perplexed; Gwen looked a little frightened, staring in his direction ever few seconds; Gaius was scrutinising the fruit and the bracelet left behind by the serving girl; and Merlin… Merlin was fuming.

It was a rare occasion indeed to see Merlin so angry. True, Arthur had shown a number of ways to annoy his manservant, but this was beyond anything he could ever do. However, Merlin's anger seemed to be reflected completely inwards, as if he thought himself to blame.

"I feel fine," Arthur stated, the tense silence was doing his nerves no good.

Gaius merely looked at him with sceptical scrutiny. Gwen and Morgana seemed more than a little relieved by the news. However, Uther and Merlin looked even more concerned.

"Honestly," Arthur raised his arms to show no abnormalities, turning to look at them all in turn. "I feel fine. If there was a poison in it, I would think that it would have taken effect much sooner than this."

Merlin shifted uncomfortably at the implied memory. He remembered the previous occasion, where Arthur had nearly been poisoned, all too well. He saw Arthur flash him an apologetic smile and returned the gesture, forgiving.

"Not all poisons are quick to act," Gaius stated. "It could be hours or even days before the effects are noticed."

"Then what are we going to do to then?" Arthur challenged.

"_I_ am going back to my study, where I can test these pears and hopefully find the poison. Merlin, would you assist?" he called out as he left the room.

Merlin spared Arthur a quick glance before tailing after Gaius. He heard Arthur huff as he sprinted out of the hall. He quickly fell into step with Gaius and they walked silently to Gaius' rooms.

Once Gaius had placed the pears on the table, and Merlin had closed the door, he turned to the young man.

"Merlin, I am telling you now: you are _not_ to use magic to heal this poison," he commanded.

"What?! Why?!" Merlin demanded in a tone barely concealing his anger.

"There is enough suspicion with this poison; we do not need a cure to suddenly appear out of thin air."

"But Arthur said he feels fine," Merlin reasoned. "What if he just… never gets sick?"

"And put Uther under a terrible strain while he's waiting for symptoms to show?"

"You could say that he didn't eat enough of it to get sick, maybe a bad stomach for a day," Merlin suggested, though his tone was still angry.

"No!"

Merlin clenched both his teeth and his fists. He walked away from Gaius and then suddenly struck out at the wall. There was a sickening crunch as bone met rock, but Merlin either didn't notice, or didn't care.

"Merlin," Gaius sighed. "You can't protect Arthur from everything."

Merlin hung his head at Gaius' words, and then took to staring at the ceiling, as if it held all the answers.

Gaius watched him for a moment, before turning to his work.

"It was her, wasn't it?" Merlin asked quietly, still staring at the ceiling.

"That was her mark on the bracelet," Gaius admitted reluctantly.

"What has she got against Arthur?" Merlin asked, though louder this time. He had lowered his head to look at Gaius.

"It is not Arthur she bares a grudge against. It is Uther who she wants revenge from."

"Why?" Merlin frowned.

"Because Uther nearly destroyed all magic, Camelot is all that he has, along with Arthur. By ridding him of either or both, Nimueh will have exacted her revenge. And don't forget, she's taken an interest in you too. You, who has become a thorn in her side."

"So we just wait?" Merlin demanded, ignoring Gaius' last point.

"As much as I hate to say it, Merlin, yes," he looked pityingly at the young man. "But, while we are waiting, you could get me some water, and some more wood for the fire."

Merlin nodded, turned and walked out of Gaius' rooms. He refused to think of anything, focusing only on getting the water and wood for Gaius. He was halfway back when he dropped the wood, some landing painfully on his foot.

"Damn it!" he hissed.

He was in the process of bending down to pick up the wood, when a much darker hand reached the wood first. He was surprised to see Gwen beside him, and wondered how long she'd been there, but he wasn't about to offend her by asking.

"I– I can take them, Gwen."

"I can manage. Besides, someone needs to be able to open the doors," Gwen pointed out, smiling slightly.

Merlin huffed, bringing his arms back to his sides, before flinching as cold water suddenly sloshed over the bucket rim and down his trouser leg. He heard Gwen smother a laugh, and was glad that she was still in a light mood.

He rested the bucket on the floor, before raising a hand to his face and leaning against the nearby wall. There, with his eyes closed, he allowed all the emotions that he felt to wash over him like a tidal wave. He couldn't speak, and when Gwen suddenly called for his attention, he merely shook his head. When he finally opened his eyes, he looked at her.

"Merlin, are you alright?"

"I feel like I let him down," he admitted quietly.

"Oh, Merlin!" Gwen sighed in exasperation. "There was no way anyone could have known that that was going to happen."

"But I did know," Merlin answered. "I knew that there was something wrong. That girl was too nervous, too scared for the occasion. I should have–" he broke off, letting himself gain a hold of his emotions again. "I should have said something."

Gwen looked at him with sympathetic eyes. She pursed her lips into a grimace. Then, she shifted the wood in her arms, and stroked Merlin's arm supportively with her free arm. She smiled half-heartedly at him, and got the same half-hearted smile in return.

"Well, we'd better get these to Gaius," Merlin said abruptly, picking up the bucket.

Gwen said nothing but followed Merlin back to Gaius' rooms. She eyed him carefully before speaking.

"It wasn't your fault, you know?"

"Then why does it feel like it is?" he asked sadly, opening the door. "I mean, Arthur risked his life for me, even though I'm just his servant. I should have been able to do more than just stand there and watch him that pear. That girl was practically screaming out that something was wrong… I should have noticed it."

Gaius tactfully cleared his throat, removing Merlin and Gwen from their conversation. He gave Merlin a reproachful look before moving away from the table. As he moved away, Arthur came into view, his back to the two servants.

"Uh, I'd… better see to Lady Morgana," Gwen said suddenly, putting the wood down on the table.

"Yeah, I'll see you later then," Merlin promised, praying that he would still be alive later.

Merlin watched Gwen rush out of the room, and her footsteps could be heard as she ran. He felt an ache in his being as he wished that he would get off so easily. Steeling himself, he turned round to face Arthur and the consequences of what he had said. He noticed that Arthur hadn't turned round yet, and so, the pain of his hand finally beginning to register, he put the bucket down.

"You've risked yourself for me many times, Merlin, and…" Arthur turned round. "You've saved my life more times than I have yours."

"Would it be a lie if I said it was my job?" Merlin shrugged timidly.

"I guess not," Arthur admitted. "But you seem to be more eager to do so, compared to other servants."

Merlin lowered his gaze to the floor, unable to meet Arthur's eyes. Also, he could think of nothing to say, and so said nothing. His hand twitched suddenly, sending jolts of pain up his arm, causing him to flinch and hiss.

"What happened to your hand?" Arthur frowned.

"He thought to challenge the wall to a duel," Gaius answered before Merlin could speak.

Arthur instantly broke into his usual grin, taking delight in Merlin's stupidity. He chuckled quietly, even louder when Merlin decided to glare at both him and Gaius.

"Only you would do something like that, Merlin. Who did the wall offend?" he chuckled.

Merlin continued to glare, chewing his lip. Arthur had noticed this when Merlin clearly wanted to say something, but knew it was out of line to say it.

"Well, if it's all the same, I'll leave you to your research and try and find some activity that Father hasn't restricted me to," Arthur jumped off the table before turning to Gaius. "Thanks for humouring him."

"Of course," Gaius lowered his head in respect.

"Merlin," Arthur nodded as he passed his servant.

"Arthur," Merlin acknowledged in turn.

Arthur closed the door and leaned against it. He could feel himself struggling to maintain even breathing, and he knew exactly why. Then, he heard two voices carrying from inside the room.

"You should have been paying better attention," Gaius was telling Merlin in a sort of fatherly manner.

"I didn't know he was going to be here."

"Arthur's been poisoned and you didn't think his father wouldn't send him down to be checked out?"

Merlin didn't reply. Instead, Arthur could hear a quiet thudding.

"That's enough, Merlin. You've already hurt your hand because of today's events, and I don't think Arthur needs a servant with a concussion."

"As if he needs me at all," Merlin stated sadly.

Arthur flinched at the words, and again when he heard someone, probably Merlin, getting hit around the head. He quietly groaned, realising who the wall had offended.

"Arthur would have died long ago if you hadn't been here. Remember the feast with the impostor of Lady Helen?" Gaius reminded him.

Arthur also remembered that day. That was the day an old hag had tried to kill him. That was the day Merlin had saved his life. That was the day Merlin became his servant.

"Or," Gaius continued. "How about the tournament, with Knight Valiant and his shield?"

Again, a bad memory of when someone had almost killed him. Merlin had been the one to discover that Valiant was using magic to win the tournament. He had scorned Merlin that day, firing him even. Of course, that mistake was rectified, once Valiant was exposed and defeated, he rehired Merlin. He had claimed at the time that a good servant, if somewhat of an eccentric one, was hard to find.

"And the plague in the water, not three months back? I'm sure Arthur would have eventually drunk the water and would have died."

Arthur had no idea what the end mortality figure was, but it would have been a lot higher. Merlin had found out about a magical creature in the well that supplied Camelot's water. He, Merlin and Morgana had descended into the underground tunnels to find the beast. Arthur only just managed to kill the creature.

"And the poisoned chalice–"

"I get the point, Gaius," Merlin stated wearily.

"Well… good. At least one of you does," Gaius sighed.

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked.

"Nothing," Gaius answered evasively. "But, I will tell you this. Arthur had no idea on how strong your loyalty to him was, until tonight. And, if I may say so, he seemed a little put off by you calling yourself 'just his servant'."

"That's all I am to him," Merlin objected defensively, unknowingly sending painful shards through Arthur.

"Merlin, although he may not treat you so, he thinks of you a lot more than a simple servant," Gaius confided. "In fact, just before you arrived, he was asking as to your sudden change in attitude in the hall. He did not believe me when I said that you blamed yourself, and then you walked in."

Arthur pushed himself off the door and walked swiftly away. He had lingered there for far too long, and was regretting his slow departure.

Morgana had often chided him for acting so callously towards Merlin, saying that he was a better servant and a better friend than he could ever have hoped for. Arthur had always brushed off her comments, but now they were coming back to haunt him.

He had often debated with himself over this matter, and now that he knew Merlin's perspective, he forced himself to think about it. Arthur had always treated Merlin with patience that was very much like humouring a slow servant, since Merlin often acted as such. However, Merlin would smile most of the time, until Arthur recited slowly a long list of tasks, when he would pay great attention.

And all the times Arthur had playfully teased Merlin over his 'non-existent' crush on Gwen, had Merlin thought of it as mockery? Had Merlin merely taken Arthur's acceptance of his insubordination as acceptance for some kind of mental handicap, rather than as a friend?

And then that brought up a difficult topic.

Arthur had taken an offhanded interest in Merlin since he had stood up to him the first time they'd met. Even though Merlin had no idea who he had been talking to at the time, the defiance was new to Arthur and had been intriguing. And now, since Merlin had saved his life on several occasions, it seemed proper that they would be considered friends.

When Merlin had foolishly tried to take Gwen's place by falsely admitting to being a sorcerer, Arthur was first surprised at his servant's stupidity, but had managed to turn it into a joke and embarrass Merlin slightly with the fact that he loved Gwen, which was an all too obvious fact.

Merlin's disregard for his own life made Arthur both admire him, and feel concern for him. When he had accused Bayard, King of Mercia, of poisoning the chalice, Arthur had been worried for Merlin's safety. To accuse a king was a grave thing indeed, and if he was wrong, then Merlin would surely have been executed for the accusation. He drained the cup without hesitation, only being stopped by others beforehand, Arthur, himself, had been the main objector.

Arthur surprised himself when he realised that he had walked all the way back to his room, taken off his boots, and had splayed himself across his bed. With that tiny surprise now out of the way, he turned his mind back to the problem.

He now knew that Merlin felt unduly concern for his safety, even by a servant's standards. And he was more concerned about Merlin than was expected by even the kindest of lords. To him, calling Merlin a servant seemed derogatory, he was much more than that. He wanted to call Merlin a friend, with all his being he did, but he knew that no one would understand how a prince could call his manservant his best friend, despite the fact that they were both of an equal age.

It was times like these when Arthur hated being a prince.

A gentle knock on his door brought Arthur out of his brooding and found himself staring at the source of his dilemma: Merlin.

"I just thought I'd let you know that the banquet starts in twenty minutes," Merlin explained sheepishly.

Arthur sighed exasperatedly. Another one of the joyous perks of being a prince: banquet after banquet. And what made this banquet seem worse than all others was the simple fact that most people probably knew that he had been poisoned, and would be watching him for sudden changes. As if the banquets weren't unbearable already…

"I won't be going," he stated simply, reasoning that the best way to avoid the stares that were obviously going to come was to avoid the situation entirely.

"Oh," Merlin replied, unsure of the reasoning behind Arthur's choice.

"Just bring something up," Arthur ordered casually, not bothering to sound noble and prince-like. "I'll eat in peace and quiet tonight."

Comprehension dawned on Merlin's face and after a quick nod, left to get some food for Arthur.

Arthur slowly sat up and returned his boots to his feet. Despite not needing to know how to prepare himself fully, Arthur had been firm on knowing how to tie his boots up. When that was done, he walked over to the table and removed his sword from it and placed it on the mantle of the fireplace.

At that point, Merlin reappeared with food. Gwen followed him with drinks and Morgana was close behind the pair, sneakily carrying plates and cutlery.

"What's all this?" he asked perplexed.

"Well," Morgana began. "I heard that you were going to have a more private meal tonight and I thought we'd join you."

Arthur glared at Merlin, who retuned a helpless shrug after he had placed down all the food. It was then that Arthur noticed the amount of food.

"Did you bring half the banquet, Merlin?" he asked, staring at the variety. He had honestly been expecting something along the lines of bread, cheese and maybe some wine, if he was lucky.

"Well, there's no reason why we shouldn't enjoy the banquet, especially if we don't have to endure the company," Morgana reasoned, and Arthur was fairly sure that she'd been coming up with her side of the argument whilst she made it here.

Arthur shook his head in defeat, taking a position at the head of his table. Morgana took the side opposing his, so she was staring at him intently.

Merlin and Gwen hastily set out the food, goblets and plates before the pair. It wasn't until Gwen was setting out the plates that it was realised that there were two extra sets in the plates, goblets and cutlery.

"I thought it wouldn't hurt if this was a less formal banquet tonight. Besides, if they wait with the rest of the servants, it'll be midnight gone before they eat," Morgana explained.

Arthur waved his hand for Merlin and Gwen to continue, showing no sign that he really cared. But at that point in time, he thanked Morgana dearly for having the idea that would have raised concern had it come from him.

"I only managed to get one vase of wine," Gwen suddenly stated. "The rest is just water."

"It'll do," Arthur replied, hoping that he sounded a little caring, but couldn't fight the feeling that he sounded disappointed. Morgana's glare made him sway towards the latter.

And with that, Merlin closed the door to Arthur's room, poured out everyone some wine and their private banquet began.

Conversation was slow to begin with until…

"How's your hand, Merlin?" Arthur asked unexpectedly.

"Err, fine. Gaius said it'll be a little bruised," Merlin replied awkwardly.

"Why? What happened to your hand?" Gwen asked, concern laced her voice.

"He decided to take on a wall," Arthur explained, chuckling quietly at the memory. "Isn't that right, Merlin?"

"Yeah, I err… tripped."

Arthur tried his hardest not to laugh, but ended up snorting into his drink. It was such a typical Merlin move: to make anything and everything sound not nearly as bad as it really was, and usually succeeding in making others believe him.

"Oh, like you've never tripped before?" Morgana threw back at Arthur.

And the conversation continued on. They all listened to each other respectfully, and took part in the conversation equally. Merlin was made the centre of attention for a while, as he described his hometown and his life before coming to Camelot. Then it moved on to Gwen and her father, and then to Morgana and her life before Camelot.

Arthur said very little, as was his way in banquets, but was attentive as usual. But, he answered all questions sent his way, embellishing some of the minor points for Merlin and Gwen's sake. He took great interest in Merlin's life, since he already knew about Gwen and Morgana. And, contrary to other banquets, he had a small smile on his face the whole time, and was more inclined to laugh with the others.

He noticed that, while it had been agreed that they were dining as equals, Merlin was always the one who stood up to pass along food and drink. That was why it was no surprise when he stood up again, until he left the table quickly and started lighting the torches.

Arthur, Gwen and Morgana turned to stare out of the pitch black window, unaware of how long they had been dining. Arthur had always thought banquets were nothing but a drag on time, but this had felt like a very short amount of time had elapsed.

"I guess we'd better take our leave," Morgana said reluctantly. "I'll see you all in the morning. Goodnight."

Arthur and Merlin both bade Morgana goodnight. Then, Merlin and Gwen set to collecting the crockery. They quickly bade Arthur goodnight before leaving him to close his door, since their arms were full.

When they had deposited their loads into the wash basin in the kitchen, Merlin turned to Gwen.

"That was a great idea, Gwen," he complimented.

"It was Morgana's idea really. But, it did seem like he had a good time," she admitted.

"Didn't everyone?" he asked honestly.

Gwen flashed him a smile in response, which he returned. They washed the crockery in silence and only said goodnight to each other once they were done.

Merlin waited for Gwen to leave the castle grounds before he headed to the castle's underworld, making his way down the long, dark tunnels. He stopped when he reached a huge cavern, his torch making very little effect on the darkness.

"Are you there?" he asked into the darkness.

"You are expecting me to go somewhere?" an old voice echoed from the carven, and the Great Dragon suddenly appeared.

"Arthur was poisoned today," Merlin began.

"Poisoned? No," the Great Dragon shook his head. "There was no poison on that pear. It was an enchantment of the blackest kind. Arthur will need you greatly at this time, for he will have a great enemy bearing down upon him. But, that enemy will not come from without… it comes from within."

"Thanks, very helpful," Merlin muttered to himself.

"Protect him as best you can, Merlin."

And with that, the Great Dragon launched off the rock he was perched on and flew up to a large outcrop higher up.

"One day, I'm gonna know a spell so I can follow him," Merlin promised himself as he left the Dragon, by now used to the sudden departures.

On his way back to Gaius' room and the prospect of a warm bed, Merlin crossed the battlements. He stopped midway, looking towards the castle. He reasoned that Gaius had forbidden him to heal the poison and, since there was no poison, he then had permission to cast a spell to protect Arthur from the major effects of an enchantment.

He looked around quickly to make sure that no one was watching and then stretched out with his mind.

"Please let this only be cast on Arthur," he begged.

He then allowed his tongue to flow with the incantations of magic, and allowed a spell of dampening to form. He could feel it working. And then, with the incantation complete, he smiled and focused his entire mind on Arthur, even to the point of stretching out with his hand.

When the spell was cast, he walked quickly back to his room and fell asleep the instant his head touched the pillow. He hadn't even bothered taking off his boots.


	3. Erratic Behaviour

The eye of the dragon was staring him down, targeting him as it drew breath. But instead of breathing out fire, it spoke in a foreign tongue in a feminine voice. The dragon shifted to the sorceress in the woods, her face in the light of the flickering torch. Then, her eyes glowed gold and as the spell came to an end, it took on a frightening familiar voice. Merlin's face suddenly melted into view from hers, and he smiled before raising his hand and sending the spell outwards–

Arthur jolted awake. He clamped his mouth down, panting through his nose, so that he did not disturb the rest of the sleeping castle. He lay in his bed, while he waited for his breathing to slow. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, wiping away the perspiration.

Once he was no longer panting, he sat up. He could tell that sleep was an impossibility, and dressed quickly and lightly before leaving his room.

Morgana watched Arthur silently as he made his fifth lap of the castle courtyard. She could see that he was drenched in sweat and he was panting, exhausted. Finally, shaking her head, she made her way into the courtyard and stood by the closest torch. She saw Arthur slow as he approached her.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked as he walked towards her.

"Long enough," she assured him. "Can't sleep?"

"Everyone was so tense today," he explained. "I guess I couldn't help it getting to me."

"You could speak to Gaius. I'm sure he's got something that could help," she suggested.

"He'd only tell my father in the morning."

"Is that bad?" she enquired.

"Do you need to ask?" he replied.

"Arthur, you know that everyone's worried about you," she consoled.

Arthur quirked an eyebrow up, smirking at what Morgana had just said, and implied.

"You know what I mean," she retorted defensively. "Did you see how furious Merlin was at himself, for letting you get poisoned?"

Arthur's smile quickly dropped. He remembered the conversation he had heard Merlin have with Gwen, not realising that he was waiting in Gaius' room as well. He had never expected Merlin to be so protectively loyal to him. Sure, Arthur had saved his life, once, but Merlin had saved his several times.

"Why are you up?" he asked, turning the conversation away from him.

"It was warm in my room, I couldn't sleep."

Arthur felt like making some snide comment, but realised that he was too tired to say anything, and he felt exhausted. It felt like his run had done the trick.

"Well, I'm going to see if I've let off enough steam to sleep, now," he stated, turning to walk back to his room.

"You seemed to enjoy our private banquet last night," Morgana spoke hurriedly and in a questioning tone.

"So? Didn't you?" he asked offhandedly.

"Well yes, but… I mean that was the most relaxed that I've seen you in a long time. Maybe we should skip banquets more often," she suggested with an unruly grin.

Arthur knew that Morgana hated the laborious banquets that his father held as much as he did, if not more. He also knew that she was always eager to find some way to rebel against his father's tight schedule, not that he was any different.

"Maybe," he answered back to her, as he had already walked a fair distance.

He directed his eyes upwards, noticing how light the sky had become. It was almost dawn and he didn't have much time for more sleep. Knowing his luck, he'd probably slump into his bed just when Merlin or some servant came knocking.

Merlin trudged back into Gaius' room, soaked to the skin. He placed the bucket on the table before shaking his head violently, spraying the area with water droplets.

"Do you mind?" Gaius chastised him.

"Sorry," Merlin apologised. "Have you found the poison?" he asked, although he knew the truth.

"There is no poison," Gaius said sadly. "There is nothing wrong with the pear, so I can only point the finger to one thing."

"Magic," Merlin stated, hearing Gaius sigh. "So what are we going to do about it?"

"There's not much we can do. We have to wait for Arthur to show any signs of abnormality, only then can I even try to guess as to what the spell was."

Merlin chewed his lip. He didn't like waiting around for Arthur to get sick. But, he had placed a spell on the prince to protect him from most of the spell's effect, hopefully. He had read two nights ago about defensive spells and how to cast and break them.

"I'd better see to Arthur," he admitted reluctantly.

"He's going to need you more while this spell hangs over him," Gaius stated.

"You're not the first one to tell me that," Merlin muttered under his breath as he walked out.

He reached Arthur's room quickly and, unsure of how Arthur would be this morning, decided to knock. He waited for a few seconds before he heard Arthur's voice granting him permission to enter.

As he entered, Merlin was shocked to see Arthur. He looked so ill. He had dark bags under his eyes and his face looked slightly gaunt. It wasn't until Arthur raised his hand to stifle a yawn that Merlin relaxed.

"Good morning," Merlin greeted, to which Arthur raised his eyebrows, still in mid yawn. "Didn't sleep well?" he asked, concerned for his friend.

"So?" Arthur answered as he finished yawning. "You don't look much better. In fact, you look dead on your feet, and the drowned look finishes the effect," he flashed a smile.

"Well it is raining outside," Merlin defended himself.

"So I noticed," Arthur agreed. "But you seriously, you look like you didn't get much sleep last night."

"Gaius woke me up at dawn. I've been helping him discover the poison."

"And?" Arthur asked, almost desperate for some information.

Merlin paused momentarily. He wanted to assure Arthur that he hadn't been poisoned, but the alternative didn't seem that much better. So, he decided to go for the diplomatic approach.

"He hasn't found anything yet," Merlin shrugged sadly at Arthur, as the prince turned around. "But don't worry," Merlin smiled half-heartedly, trying to improve the mood. "I'm sure he'll find something soon."

At that moment, a silver goblet went flying his way. He flinched and felt a sharp pain as it hit him on his shoulder with a sound thwack, before the goblet spun off to some bizarre direction. He glanced fearfully at Arthur's furious face.

"Don't worry?! Who do you think I am?!" Arthur demanded. "There's nothing wrong with me, what do I have to worry about?!"

Merlin opened and closed his mouth, desperate to say something, but his brain had decided to freeze on him. He stared helplessly at Arthur, shocked at his friend's behaviour. He'd never seen Arthur this angry before.

"And don't stare at me! I am a prince, and what are you? A servant! You should never meet the gaze of your better, or stand unless ordered so!" Arthur shouted.

Merlin blinked in shock. He had no idea who this person was, and feared that something had happened overnight, feared that his spell had been cast too late.

As he recovered from the shock, he realised what Arthur had said. Feeling a large chunk of himself get torn out, he lowered his gaze and then, sadly and reluctantly, he knelt before Arthur. He had contemplated walking out, but argued that he would have gotten in more trouble if he had.

"Sire," he stated, struggling with the formality as his brain finally started to work again.

Arthur stared at Merlin in disbelief. He wasn't sure what had been the bigger jolt: his words or Merlin's reluctant cooperation. He had been astounded when the words had come out of his mouth, but his heart had wrench when he saw Merlin lower his gaze and kneel before him. He hadn't been given a chance to recall his words.

"Merlin…" he spoke, uncertain on how his words would be received. "Merlin, stand up. Look at me, please," he begged as Merlin rose but denied eye contact. "I… I don't know why I said that. I don't know where that came from, even," he stared at Merlin, apologetic and sincere. "Please forgive me."

Merlin lowered his eyes slightly, nodding slowly. His brain was reeling, trying to understand what had just happened, and he wasn't the only one. He chose to humour Arthur, giving the best explanation that he could come up.

"You're just tired, right?" he tempted fate by looking Arthur in the eye.

Arthur smiled slightly, sadly, appreciating Merlin's attempt. He personally thought that the poison was starting to rear its ugly head, but he was more than happy to go for irritability from lack of sleep. He thanked Merlin silently.

"Yeah, that's right. I… guess it's time to go down for breakfast," Arthur suggested, needing a change in topic.

"Okay," Merlin smiled, obviously as glad to be leaving the situation as Arthur was.

They walked silently down to the Great Hall. Although they were walking relatively close to one another, Arthur couldn't help but feel the awkwardness between him and Merlin. He prayed that it wasn't a tear that he couldn't fix.

Arthur sat uncomfortably throughout breakfast, toying with his food rather than eating it. He could feel the anxious stares of everyone in the hall lying in his direction. He probably would have managed it easily, but the incident up in his room had more than edged his nerves.

Finally, he stood up abruptly. He noticed Merlin flinch as he did so. Realising that even Merlin didn't trust him, though he'd given him no reason to, Arthur stormed out of the hall, desperate for some time alone.

"Merlin? Are you alright?" Gwen's concerned voice asked suddenly from Merlin's left.

Again, he flinched, though not as severely as he had when Arthur had moved suddenly. He knew that he was being silly, but his shoulder still hurt.

He was about to respond when he observed that his disquiet had been noticed by all others in the hall, especially Uther and Gaius. He suddenly felt very self-conscious.

"Merlin?" Gwen put her hand on his shoulder, trying to put him at ease.

Merlin recoiled and hissed in pain as Gwen put pressure on his shoulder. It was the shoulder that had been used as target practice for Arthur's goblet. He inwardly wished that he wasn't so sensitive, because Gaius had left his seat and was examining his shoulder.

"It looks like something hard hit you at great speed, Merlin," Gaius' voice was full of concern.

Merlin squirmed as the attention on him intensified. And, this time, he didn't have Arthur to pull him out of the exceedingly hot spotlight.

"Who did that?" Uther asked, though his voice betrayed the fact that he had guessed, correctly, who the culprit was.

"Arthur," Merlin whispered uncomfortably. "But he had had much sleep last night," Merlin knew that the defence was poor even as he said it.

"Arthur told me that all the unneeded concerns of the castle were keeping him awake," Morgana announced, rescuing Merlin from the situation, to which he smiled thankfully at her.

The hall was silent, the tension in the air made the whole atmosphere discomfited. It was finally Uther who broke the silence.

"Gaius, have you made any progress?"

"Not much, Sire," Gaius admitted. "But it does seem that Arthur is capable of fending off this… intrusion. However, if he is tired, then he may not be able to maintain a strong defence. I will make haste to produce a sleeping tonic, to aid him in sleep, if you desire," Gaius offered, although he knew the response. "Merlin, will you help me, and then you can give one to Arthur."

"Merlin," Uther called as the pair began to leave the room. "I want you to stay by his side. If there is anything unusual about him, I want to know as soon as possible."

Merlin nodded his head, and bowed slightly before running out of the room after Gaius.

Arthur realised that he was sitting precariously on the turret wall. This was even truer due to the rain making everything wet and slippery. But he couldn't care less. His hair was plastered to his head, his clothes were soaked through, and it would probably take a week for his boots to dry out fully, but he didn't care.

Here, at least, he could just sit and feel exactly what he wanted to feel. He wanted to shout and scream, but he'd caused enough disquiet already and so kept quiet. A small part of him wanted to cry, but it made sure that it was a very small part of him.

He admitted only to the rain and wind, silently, that he was afraid. He was afraid of this poison. It hadn't done anything to him. He hadn't choked to death, he hadn't turned a strange colour, he hadn't suffered anything… except that dream. That dream had kept him up last night, he had been terrified of falling asleep, encase he saw it again.

But as he thought about it, he realised that different parts of the dream had invoked different feelings in him. The dragon had brought unease, he felt like it was watching him. The sorceress had invoked fear, like she had when he had been hanging from a ledge for dear life. Merlin, however…

Merlin had brought a sense of peace, of soothing, to the dream. It was as if he had appeared to protect Arthur from the other apparitions. The incantation that Merlin had spoken, though impossible since he wasn't a sorcerer, had made Arthur feel like something was now over him, protecting him. And Merlin's smile, the smile was that of a caring friend, not some deranged, power-hungry sorcerer.

"Arthur?" Merlin's voice suddenly reached him through his brooding.

"What are you doing here?" Arthur asked, unaware of any reason why Merlin would come up to this turret.

"What are you doing here?" Merlin shot back, gently, curiously.

Arthur then realised that he was the reason that Merlin was subjecting himself to the elements, and felt extremely foolish. His friend had already been out in the rain, and any more and he'd end up with the flu.

"Nothing, just wanted to clear my head," Arthur stared back out into the pouring rain.

"I'm sure you could do that inside, where it's not raining," Merlin stated, though a cautious tone was in his voice and he stepped back whilst speaking. Arthur also noticed Merlin's hand reaching unconsciously to his shoulder.

"How's your shoulder?" he asked sincerely.

"A little sore," Merlin admitted. "Gaius says there'll be a mark for a while, but it's no big deal."

"It's a good thing that you ducked, or it would have hit you in the head," Arthur noted sourly, looking towards Merlin with a sorry expression on his face. "Sleep or no sleep, poison or no poison, I shouldn't have done that. You've done nothing to deserve that treatment, and what I said… I had no right to say that to you, and I didn't mean it."

"But what you said was true, technically," Merlin added quickly. He knew that he wasn't doing very well at consolidating Arthur.

"Still," Arthur persisted. "I shouldn't have said it."

Neither of them spoke for a time. There was nothing for them to say. It was only when Merlin involuntarily shivered that the conversation started up again.

"Go indoors, Merlin. You'll catch your death out here," Arthur commanded gently. He didn't want to send Merlin indoors, but he didn't want to get Merlin sick either.

"Only if you do," Merlin countered.

Arthur realised what Merlin was implying and made a mental note to have a chat with his father next time he saw him. But, he had decided earlier that he wouldn't be the cause of Merlin getting sick.

"Fine then," he agreed. "There's not much to see up here anyway."

The pair made their way down off the turret. At one point, Merlin slipped, but Arthur caught his arm before he landed on his face. Once they were undercover, the boys shook their heads, spraying water around them. Arthur had a dishevelled look, while Merlin merely looked soaked

"Do you me to get you something? You didn't really eat much at breakfast," Merlin suggested as they passed the kitchen.

Arthur looked at his bedraggled friend and smiled.

"Sure," he agreed. "Oh, and Merlin, I'll have a private meal this time."

"Right," Merlin smiled. "Uh, what do you want?" he called to Arthur's retreating back.

"Whatever's there, I don't mind," Arthur spun around, shrugging when he was facing Merlin. "I'll be in my room," he called as he ascended the stairs.

Merlin darted into the kitchen. He wanted to spend the least amount of time away from Arthur as possible, reasoning that the trouble of getting caught just wasn't worth it. However, he did get caught… by Gwen.

"Merlin, what happened to you? Did you go swimming or something?"

"Or something," Merlin flashed a smile at her. "I'm just getting something for Arthur to eat, since he didn't have that much at breakfast."

"Well, I'll go tell Morgana, I'm sure she'd love–"

"Actually, Arthur asked for a private meal, sorry," he apologised, wishing that it wasn't the case.

"Okay," she replied wistfully.

Merlin smiled his infamous sorry smile that she was so used to seeing. She knew that Merlin was different to most people: he never lied. True, he could be slow on some things, but that only made him more endearing to her. Plus, whenever he smiled at her like that, she found that she had no willpower to be mad at him, no matter the reason.

And, with his arms full of bread, cheese, fruit and a flask of wine, Merlin darted out of the kitchen and raced up the stairs. His shoes squeaked as he reached a well travelled part of the castle, where the floor was slippery, and he slid a few feet before regaining his balance and continued to Arthur's room.

So focused on not falling over and sending the food flying, he didn't notice when he passed Gaius and Uther. The king and physician allowed him to carry on his way, realising how hazardous it would be to try and stop him.

"Hardy food," Gaius noted. "It will keep Arthur's strength up."

Uther said nothing, but watched Merlin's retreating back. His expression was cold and calculating.

"I assure you, sire, Merlin is not neglecting his duties. Arthur could not be in any safer hands," Gaius comforted.

"Have you made any progress on the poison?" Uther demanded, turning his attention to Gaius.

"I am sorry to tell you sire, but I have found nothing as of yet. The poison must be very weak to avoid my finding it. But, I will double my efforts, if my progress is unsatisfactory."

"No, I understand that you're doing all you can, Gaius. But…" Uther turned back to the corridor Merlin had ran down. "As a king– as a father, I shouldn't be so useless to helping my son."

"Very little can be done, your Majesty. I will make haste, back to my study. I will find this poison, I assure you."

And, with the conversation over, Gaius left for his rooms. Biting his lip, he wondered if he had been right in lying to Uther, but reasoned that it would do no good if the king did know. It would only start another search and he couldn't risk Merlin's room being searched.

Merlin feebly knocked on Arthur's half-closed door, the load in his arms was already precarious, and he didn't want to tempt fate by moving anything. Hearing Arthur grant permission to enter, he laid his back on the door and gently pushed it open so he could walk through. He set the food and flask down on the table as quickly as he could.

A small clatter made Merlin look down and he saw a tiny vial had fallen from his pocket.

"What's that?" Arthur queried.

"Uh, sleeping tonic. Gaius told me to give it to you… before you went to sleep tonight," he added the last part quietly, all too aware of the amount of projectiles that were now in Arthur's room, and he didn't want to cast a shield over himself.

"And why would I need that?" Arthur asked calmly, though he felt his stomach constrict.

"Errr… When you left the hall this morning, Gwen touched a very sore part of my shoulder," Merlin explained warily, not sure of the outcome. "Gaius said what was wrong with my shoulder and the king…" he trailed off, not wanting to admit what he had said.

"My father asked for you to confirm whether or not I had attacked you," Arthur finished the sentence, feeling disappointed at how easy it was for Merlin to clamp down on him, and rat him out.

"I told them that you were tired," Merlin defended himself pitifully. "And Morgana said that you had spoken to her earlier about how the tensions of the castle were making you restless."

Arthur's disappointment evaporated completely and he felt a small surge of gratitude for Merlin. He had probably lied to the whole hall, not an easy feat, by saying that Arthur was just tired, rather than blaming the poison. And, Morgana had gone along with the lie, although that didn't surprise him.

"Thanks," he said simply, not knowing of what else he could say.

Merlin smiled sincerely, glad that Arthur wasn't planning on throwing anything at him. He hadn't admitted how close he had been to saying that the poison was staring to show. But, the fact that he knew that Arthur wasn't poisoned had made that excuse seem very flimsy to Merlin, and he couldn't just turn around and say that he was the enchantment. That was something he would never be able to use.

Arthur was relieved to see Merlin relax. Obviously his friend had been expecting some unprovoked violence directed at him, and was glad that it wasn't going to happen.

As he looked at the food Merlin had brought, he realised that he wasn't remotely hungry. But, since he had gone through the trouble, Arthur unenthusiastically ate some of the cheese, a slice of bread, ignored the fruit after glaring at it, and drank a goblet of wine.

He was surprised to notice that Merlin wasn't staring at him, expecting him to keel over at any moment. Instead, the young man was surveying Arthur's room. Although he occasionally looked in Arthur's direction, he was more interested in whether Arthur was eating, rather than the prince himself.

Feeling slightly more comfortable, Arthur made himself eat more of the food, until he had eaten everything except the fruit and had drunk all the wine. He was surprised when he realised that he hadn't not enjoyed the meal.

"What's this?" Merlin asked, pointing at a board with thirty-two tiny figures.

Arthur followed his friend's gaze and smiled. It had been a long time since he had touched the thing, mainly because no one really wanted to accept the challenge. Now, Merlin was new blood.

"You've never played chess?" he asked, feeling delight soar in him as Merlin shook his head. "Well, pick it up. Let's go to the library, there's better light there. And… I'll teach you how to play," he smiled, eager to play.

Merlin, sensing Arthur's enthusiasm, quickly picked up the board and the pieces, and followed Arthur down to the library.


	4. Losing Focus

Author's note: I have no idea if this is true in the show, or in the legends. But, Arthur's mother was just something that went with the story. It is not some random piece of information from the show (at least I don't think it is).

* * *

Merlin sighed and, after careful deliberation, flicked his king over. That was the seventh game, and it was the seventh time he'd lost. He was really starting to dislike chess.

"Come on, Merlin, don't be like that," Arthur smiled, enjoying his supremacy on the board. "You're getting better."

"Yeah? How?" Merlin asked, disbelieving.

"It's taking me longer to beat you," Arthur pointed out, as if it was that obvious.

Merlin smiled half-hearted, not impressed. He then proceeded to chew his lip as he returned the pieces to their staring positions. He had words that he desperately wanted to say, but had resolved to not speak of it.

Arthur felt a little irritated by Merlin's silence, but said nothing. He looked down at the board and moved his first piece, since he was playing white, he moved first.

They spoke casually during the games. They talked about their lives, their childhoods until Arthur spoke of how his mother had been killed by magic. Merlin quietened down after that admission.

"I guess you hate magic," he stated quietly, fearing Arthur's answer.

"I used to," Arthur replied offhandedly. "When I was a child, I was afraid of magic. I thought it was evil, and that it could do anything to hurt someone."

"You don't think that now?" Merlin frowned.

"When my mother died, Father became obsessed with destroying magic. And… eventually I just grew tired of being afraid of it, tired of his obsession. I just…" Arthur paused to decide the right words. "I just couldn't be bothered to care anymore."

Merlin said nothing. He thought about what Arthur had just said, and wondered how much of it he really meant. He had noticed Arthur's attitude changing over the time they had spent playing chess, and it wasn't the only thing that had changed.

He desperately wanted to speak to Gaius, but didn't know how to get away to speak to him. And, he had been ordered to stay at Arthur's side.

"Check," he stated as he moved his bishop.

Arthur glared at the tiny figure, trying to understand where it had come from, and why he hadn't noticed it. Feeling disgruntled, he moved a piece and blocked the check.

"Who's winning?" Morgana suddenly asked over Arthur's shoulder.

"Seven games and I've lost all seven," Merlin answered, pouting slightly, whilst moving the bishop again. "Check."

"Merlin, Merlin, Merlin," Arthur sighed dramatically. "Did you really mean to do that?" he asked, sliding his queen across to take the bishop

"You do know that you don't have to let Arthur win, right?" she chuckled.

"Hey," Arthur objected, turning to Morgana. "Merlin is merely a novice in the presence of a master."

"Check," Merlin stated quietly, moving his own queen to take Arthur's.

He managed to hold his smile down as much as possible while he saw Arthur glaring at the board again. As Arthur moved to block the check, he heard Morgana laugh quietly.

"What was that about Merlin being 'in the presence of a master'?" she taunted.

"You distracted me," Arthur retorted. "Go away."

Morgana smiled, but moved off. Seeing his chance, Merlin quickly called to Morgana and left the table. He could feel Arthur's eyes on his back, but ignored him.

"What is it, Merlin?" Morgana frowned.

"Do you know where Gaius is?" he asked quietly.

"In his study, looking for the poison," Morgan's frown deepened.

"I… know that I have no right to ask this, but… could you talk to him? I need to speak to him. It's urgent."

Morgana's face went blank as she went over the information in her mind. She frowned as her mind came up blank for a reason.

"Why don't you go there yourself?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"I'm not supposed to leave Arthur's side, and I'd rather he didn't hear," he explained, very quietly so Morgana had to strain to hear him. It was apparent that he didn't want Arthur to know what they were talking about.

Morgana's mind went straight back to breakfast in the hall, when Uther had ordered Merlin to stay close to Arthur, and report if something happened. She felt gratitude to Merlin, since he could have simply said this in front of Arthur, but clearly did not want to bring unneeded concern to the prince's attention. He had enough to worry about.

"Sure, are you staying here for the while?"

"As long as Arthur wants to play," Merlin answered, though he did not seem pleased at the prospect of losing more to Arthur. The young man may have been a servant, but he still had some pride that could be hurt by continuous defeats.

And with that, Morgana nodded and left the library. Merlin returned to the table and the game he was about to lose. He then noticed that Arthur's eyes hadn't left him from the moment he had left the table.

"What was that about?" Arthur asked tensely.

"Huh? Oh! Erm… Gwen was on about something earlier, and I just wanted to make that it had all been cleared up," Merlin lied.

"What about?" Arthur asked with interest.

"I… don't really know, but it was bothering Gwen and I was just… checking to see if everything had been sorted," Merlin continued to lie, internally wondering why he'd chosen Gwen as his lie, despite the fact that she was Morgana's handmaiden.

Arthur shrugged his shoulders, apparently satisfied. Had this been a normal day, he would have been more persistent and would have teased Merlin over his 'crush' over Gwen. Instead, he turned his attention back to the board and moved a rook, smiling as he did so.

"Check," he stated smugly, glad to have finally gotten back at Merlin.

There was only Merlin's queen near the rook, and so he moved the piece, seeing that he had no other choice. He took the rook and observed the board. He frowned; this wasn't right. Arthur's pieces were positioned so, as were his own. But in this pattern they made…

"Checkmate," he whispered, astonished that what he was saying was true. He had just won the game.

Arthur frowned in confusion as he also examined the board. His eyes were blazing as he realised the mistakes he'd been making. Subconsciously, his hand began to curl into a fist.

"Morgana distracted you," Merlin stated quickly, hoping to calm the prince and diffuse the situation; there were a lot of things that Arthur could throw at him if given a reason. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken advantage."

Arthur looked at Merlin confused, wondering why his friend was apologising. Then, he noticed that his hand was clenched, and he quickly forced his arm to relax.

This had been a good time, and he didn't want to be the one to spoil it. He had enjoyed playing against Merlin and learning so much about his friend's past. This had been the most relaxed he had been for a very long time.

"Don't worry about it, Merlin," he laughed, trying to show that he was alright. "I should have paid better attention."

Merlin relaxed, breathing slowly out. Arthur was very much aware of how uneasy his friend was, and wanted to try and alleviate the tensions, however, he wasn't sure how.

They returned the pieces to their original positions to start another game. Arthur quietly hoped that Merlin hadn't noticed when he had nearly set up his pieces wrong, placing the bishops next to the rooks, rather than the king and queen.

He mentally argued with himself, half of him saying that he was only tired from not sleeping last night. But then, the other half of him was saying that the poison was messing with his concentration.

With this in mind, he debated about tow other things: whether or not to speak to Gaius, and if Merlin was noticing more than he was letting on, and was graciously not speaking about it.

They finished another game, where Arthur won, and were halfway through the next when Morgana and Gwen quietly walked back in. They quietly asked to watch and promised not to distract the pair.

A few minutes later, Gaius walked into the library. He walked up to the little group, realising that Merlin was winning the game. Only two more moves and he would checkmate Arthur. A shame he was about to ruin the young man's victory.

"Merlin, could I speak to you for a moment?"

"I can take over, if you'd like," Morgana offered.

Merlin nodded his head and stood up. As Morgana passed him to take his seat, Gaius heard, barely, Merlin whispering in her ear.

"Go easy on him," he begged.

They didn't pause; it was as if he hadn't said anything. As Merlin walked a short distance away from the table, Gaius noticed how Arthur's attention was completely on Merlin, the game almost forgotten. Then, satisfied that Merlin wasn't about to leave, Arthur reluctantly returned his focus to the game.

"What is it Merlin?" Gaius asked, though sure that he already knew.

"Arthur's concentration is slipping," Merlin whispered, careful to avoid Arthur's hearing. "And, he's less aware of everything."

"He's seems quite aware of when you move away," Gaius noted.

"I know, but I don't understand why," Merlin admitted. "Does any of this sound familiar to you?"

"No, the developments are too vague, Merlin. There are a dozen spells that could do this to someone," Gaius explained.

"What about a losing control of emotions? Arthur's nearly lashed out in anger a couple of times, but I don't know where the anger is coming from."

"It could be frustration, Merlin. He's not allowed to do what he usually does. But… lacking in emotional control is not something I would put with Arthur," Gaius admitted.

"Erm… Gaius…" Merlin spoke quietly, uneasily. "I… err…"

"Merlin?" Gaius asked with a hard voice, as he realised what the young magician had had done.

"It's only a defensive spell!" Merlin whispered urgently. "To… you know, lessen the effects of the enchantment on him!"

Gaius closed his eyes, a string of profanities raced through his mind, but he didn't utter one. He knew that he should not have been surprised, but he realised that he wasn't surprised, merely disappointed.

"And, to be honest…" Merlin continued, albeit reluctantly, "I think he would be worse than this if I hadn't done it."

Gaius opened his eyes, allowing them to flit over to the trio behind Merlin. Arthur was watching Merlin every other moment. He seemed almost anxious at the distance between him and Merlin.

"You're probably right," Gaius agreed. "I'll tell Uther what you've told me of his developments. I'll advise that Arthur dines alone, seeing as breakfast was not that enjoyable for him, and now that he's showing problems, it might just be that much worse for him."

Merlin nodded glumly. He felt the vial in his pocket, and remembered that he was supposed to make Arthur drink it tonight. He cringed at the thought.

"Hopefully Arthur will have a better night tonight," he stated wistfully.

"You'll be the one to know, Merlin," Gaius reminded him as he walked out of the library.

Merlin reluctantly turned round and rejoined his friends.

"What was that about?" Gwen asked before Arthur could.

"Eh, Gaius was just checking up on us."

"Us?" Arthur frowned.

"I mentioned to him that you two had been in here all day," Morgana admitted. "I had a pain in my hand so I went to see him, and I just told him in passing."

"Is your hand alright?" Arthur asked, frowning in concern, and not noticing the surprised looks on Merlin and Gwen's faces.

"Yeah, it was just a twinge," she brushed off his concern with a smile, feeling relieved when his face returned to a calm expression.

"Uh, I think it's nearly time for the banquet," Merlin stated miserably, wondering how on earth was he going to explain that Gaius wanted Arthur away from the Great Hall.

Arthur sighed, obviously not happy with the idea of eating in the hall.

"How about we sneak some food up to Arthur's room again?" Morgana offered. "There's no reason for us to go, and it'll be far more enjoyable."

Arthur's eyes glazed over as he thought about, then he looked at Morgana and smirked.

"Sure. Why not?"

Merlin had to admit, that was the strangest banquet he'd been to. Rather than sitting on opposite ends of the table, with a side to themselves, everyone sat on only two sides, Arthur and Merlin on one side, Morgana and Gwen on the other. They had talked, like they had last time, but somehow, everything seemed off.

He was ashamed to admit it, but Merlin felt sort of glad when Morgana and Gwen left. Gwen returned a few minutes later with five blankets, before disappearing again. She'd brought Merlin something to sleep on.

"What are they for?" Arthur asked.

"Uh, they're for me," Merlin stated. "Gwen brought them up so I didn't sleep on the cold floor."

Arthur frowned, confused.

"I…" Merlin trailed off, unsure of how Arthur was going to react. "I've been ordered by the king to stay by your side," he admitted when Arthur's expression didn't change.

Arthur's frown deepened as his confusion rose. He then shook his head as if to alleviate his puzzlement.

"I don't see why," he remarked finally. "But I wouldn't want you to get in trouble over this. Um, where are you sleeping?"

"I'll be fine in a corner, it'll probably be warmest," Merlin shrugged casually.

Inside, all alarm bells were ringing in Merlin's ears. He had noticed Arthur's demeanour was changing. Though he knew not to say so, Arthur seemed kinder, if not more childlike. There was an innocence in him, which was frightening Merlin to no end.

But Merlin said nothing. Instead he turned and found a corner that kept Arthur's bed in full view, since he didn't want to be accused of not doing his task properly, and was far enough away to give Arthur some privacy.

He was laying out the blankets, rolling up one for a makeshift pillow, and unfolding another for a cover, when suddenly…

There was a shout of pain and surprise along with the clatter of something metal hitting the floor.

Merlin whirled round to discover what had transpired. Arthur was cradling his hand, while his sword lay on the floor. Arthur's face was full of shock, pain and anger directed inwards. Merlin found it quite easy to piece together the event.

Merlin joined Arthur's side took the hand in question into his own. Sure enough, there was a shallow cut across Arthur's palm.

"I wasn't holding it properly," Arthur murmured sulkily.

Merlin pulled Arthur to the table and held the wound over the table, above a bowl. He took the nearby flask and pulled out the stopper. He heard Arthur hiss and tense up, but his hand remained flat. They both knew what was coming.

Merlin poured the liquid, wine as it turned out to be, over Arthur's cut. He felt Arthur shudder in pain, but he did not try to tear his hand out of Merlin's grip. Merlin then poured another liquid, water this time, over the cut and wrapped the hand in a tear of linen. Once he was done, he released Arthur's hand.

"Thanks," Arthur mumbled after a moment of silence.

"No problem," Merlin smiled, but it felt so false to him. "Arthur, why don't you get some sleep? You'll be a lot more alert in the morning."

"As if I could," Arthur sulked, walking back to his bed and collapsing on it.

"What do you mean by that?" Merlin frowned, worried about what could be denying his friend the blissfulness of sleep.

"I'll dream again," Arthur whispered, almost afraid to speak of it.

Merlin contemplated this while he walked to his friend and sat on the edge of the bed, not wanting to go too far with his presence. He looked at Arthur, a confused frown on his face.

"Don't worry about it, Merlin," Arthur smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes.

"How about the tonic that Gaius made? I'm sure that could help," Merlin suggested, bring out the vial.

Arthur stared at the tiny bottle, his eyes glazed over as he considered the option. He then sat up, took the vial from Merlin, removed the stopper and swallowed the whole thing in one gulp. He scrunched up his face as the sharp taste hit the back of his throat.

Arthur handed the vial back wordlessly, and Merlin took it back without comment. Merlin picked up the sword and took it with him to the other side of the room. He finished sorting out his makeshift bed and turned round.

Arthur looked half gone to him. Exhaustion from the day and Gaius' tonic were making quick work of Arthur, pulling him quickly to unconsciousness.

Merlin returned to the bed and pulled off his friend's boots; Arthur didn't resist, probably too tired to. Merlin then helped Arthur reposition himself better on the bed, so that he didn't slid or fall off halfway through the night, which would have been embarrassing for both of them.

Merlin extinguished the torches until all but one was left still alight. Taking that torch to Arthur's side, the young magician held onto Arthur's injured hand.

A quiet murmur of incantation filled the room and Merlin sent a small amount of magic out to Arthur's hand, healing as much of the cut as he dared. He knew that, despite how much he wanted to, he couldn't heal all the injury, but he was determined to make it as small an injury as possible.

The dragon wasn't there this time. It was just Arthur, standing alone on some barren land which spread out as far as the eye could see. His sword was by his side, and he felt the need to have it in his hands. But when he held it, the sword felt wrong: it was too heavy, it was shaped wrong, and he couldn't hold it properly. As he looked up from his sword, he saw her, the sorceress. He tried to raise the sword to defend himself, but a quick invocation sent the sword flying out of his hands and into hers. She twirled it around, as if it was as light as the air, before bringing it downwards, swiping across him. Arthur stretched out his hand to protect himself, and the sword ran deep into his hand. He could feel himself falling, falling down to the ground, defeated. He was at her mercy, and she was about to strike.

Then, gentle words floated over to him, as if living on the wind. The sorceress snarled and dropped the sword at his feet, but he could not move, even as she retreated. Arthur turned his head to find the source of the words. Sure enough, Merlin was walking towards him. Merlin was smiling that same friendly smile that he always wore. Grass rose from Merlin's footprints, spreading out in all directions from there. When Merlin reached him, his friend took his mutilated hand. He was still speaking the words… foreign words… magic words. Arthur could feel a small warmth dispersing through his hand. And, as he watched, the deep cut on his hand gently closed up and healed without a scar. Merlin's hands almost seemed to be glowing, and when he looked into the young man's face, his eyes were a glowing gold.

"Thank you, Merlin," he murmured, too awed to speak any louder.

Merlin smiled at him, shaking his head slightly.

"Don't mention it," Merlin spoke softly. "You should try to sleep, Arthur. You have to rest to be strong enough to fight this; I can't help you this time."

"You do enough, Merlin," Arthur assured his friend. "You do more than enough," Arthur was vaguely aware of how quiet his voice was getting.

"Sleep, Arthur," Merlin's voice was gentle, and yet, could not be resisted. "We'll talk more later."

Arthur nodded to his friend and felt the world slip from beneath him. Then before he knew it, the dragon was staring at him with calculating eyes, drawing in breath to exhale a spell that came from the sorceress. But these two were forced away from him when Merlin once again appeared, sending all evil away with his own spell.

Arthur inhaled sharply. His eyes were wide open, as he stared into the absolute darkness of his room. It took a few moments for him to realise that I wasn't completely black, and he could see silhouettes in his room.

One moved suddenly and Arthur caught his breath, before sighing out in relief as he realised that it was Merlin's sleeping figure.

He knew that it was unfair to wake the young man, he had looked fatigued all day, and it was unfair to disturb his peace.

And so, reluctantly, Arthur closed his eyes. He still felt groggy from Gaius' tonic, and after a few moments, he was asleep again, dreaming of dragons, sorceresses, and a friendly, loyal, protective face.


	5. Conforntations

Author's note: Again, I do not know if this really does happen to Arthur's mother, but it's a good addition to my story.

* * *

Merlin knew that Arthur was awake, but did not ruin the moment. He reasoned that his friend was only doing this to ease his concerns. And, he had seen Arthur watch his movements when he thought Merlin couldn't see.

Finally, Arthur ended the pretence and sat up, his legs crossed on his bed. He looked more than a little lost to Merlin, but it was hardly the right way to start the day with that kind of comment.

"Good morning," Merlin smiled.

"Morning. How was your night?" Arthur asked. "I wouldn't think sleeping on the floor is that comfortable."

"I slept, though, I'm sure you slept more than I did," Merlin admitted. "I didn't think that you had such weird dreams."

Arthur closed his eyes and groaned. He laid his head in his hands and wanted to curl up into a small ball.

He had thought that Merlin had been asleep all night, but obviously he had kept his friend awake. He cringed as he wondered what he had said whilst he slept, but didn't have the courage to ask. So, he asked a less difficult question.

"What's happening to me Merlin?" he asked quietly. "I'm different than I was two days ago, heck! I'm different than I was yesterday," he stared at his friend.

Merlin eyed him nervously, and memories of yesterday brought the cold, hard truth to Arthur's attention. Merlin didn't trust him to keep his temper, and, considering yesterday, Arthur didn't blame him.

"Relax, Merlin. I'm not going to throw anything at you," Arthur promised, smiling half-heartedly before lowering his gaze.

Merlin said nothing, but continued to watch his friend. He was so still, not even chewing his lip.

"I know that I'm different," Arthur explained. "But… I don't know how. It's like its some obvious thing and I can't see what it is," Arthur voice was clearly distressed, as he faced Merlin again, his eyes scared. "What's happening to me, Merlin? How have I changed?! What is this poison _doing_ to me?!" he was shouting, and shaking in alarm.

Merlin crossed the room in two strides and knelt before Arthur so he could look into the prince's eyes. He had hoped to know how to ease his friend's fear, but was drawing a blank.

"I… don't know," he admitted, shamefaced. "You really can't see the changes?"

Arthur gazed sadly at his friend, before slowly shaking his head.

Merlin sighed and hung his head. He couldn't bear to see Arthur looking at him with such desperation, because he'd never seen it in the young prince's eyes before. And, Merlin deliberated on what action he could take, but found himself drawing blank.

"I'll go get some breakfast for you," he announced finally.

In one split second, Arthur's posture changed dramatically. His whole body tensed up and his hands clenched, clinging to his trouser leg. His eyes widened in shock and fear, his mouth open slightly as if he was desperately trying to think of something to say.

Merlin's own eyes widened in surprise. His mind reeled as he tried to think of what had said to upset the prince. And then, it occurred. He had just said that he was leaving Arthur's side. And this brought two problems to his mind.

One: he had been ordered not to do that. Uther would probably kill him if he found out. And two: Arthur would get nervous if Merlin was more than a few feet away. Merlin didn't feel like testing his friend's endurance of a few floors difference.

"Come on," he ordered gently, rising to his feet. "Let's get you ready for the day. Then we'll go down and get breakfast."

Merlin picked out comfortable looking clothes and handed them to Arthur. He then proceeded to direct the young man to the screen in the corner of his room. Arthur didn't seem to be the kind of person who would use something that looked so foolish, but then again, Morgana did have a habit of suddenly appearing in Arthur's room.

"Merlin?" Arthur's timid voice came from behind the screen.

"Still here," he answered, for the fifth time.

"Hey, Merlin… do you remember, a few days ago, you said that you were just my servant?"

"Yes," he replied. He had not been intending for Arthur to hear that, but sometimes, fate seemed to have a bad sense of humour.

"Do you really think that?"

"What else am I suppose to think?" he muttered, grimly remembering how cold Arthur always was to him, except for lately.

"Merlin?!"

"Still here," he assured the jittery prince. "It's the only image you gave me."

"Really?" Arthur asked as he came out from behind the screen. His face was pained.

"You're a prince," Merlin reminded. "You have to act tough."

"But at your expense?"

Merlin couldn't think of anything to say to him. So, he looked down and shrugged his shoulders.

"I think I'd prefer you knowing that you were my friend, rather than me being tough and acting as if I'm not grateful for everything you've done."

"Your boots are by your bed," Merlin stated, feeling rather glad to have something else to talk about.

He watched Arthur walk back to his bed, sit down, and put his boots on.

Had this been any other day, any other time, Merlin would have been overjoyed if Arthur had said that to him. Hearing from Gaius was one thing, but from the actual person was completely different. But now, today, hearing Arthur call him a friend felt like some sick joke.

"I… know how to do this," Arthur's scared voice penetrated Merlin's thoughts.

Arthur had his boots on his feet, but was staring intently at them. The buckles were unfastened with his hands close to them, shaking.

"I know how to do this," Arthur repeated.

Merlin felt what was left of his stomach drop as he realised what was wrong. Arthur didn't know how to buckle his boots up. Merlin had seen him do that task hundreds of times before, but now, Arthur had no idea what to do.

Merlin joined Arthur's side and knelt down. He took the buckles and fastened them for him. He could feel the sadness emanating from Arthur, and couldn't find the strength to look into his eyes. Once he was done, he stood up and took one step back.

"Let's go," he stated, turning round.

Arthur rose silently and followed him out of the room. They silently walked down to the Great Hall, where the early risers were enjoying a quiet breakfast.

Breakfast was the only meal in the day that wasn't an organised banquet. People just came in when they wanted and ate what they wanted.

Merlin was glad that only a few people were in the hall this early in the morning. One of those people was Gaius. Marlin ensured that Arthur had something to eat and then excused himself from Arthur's side for a moment to speak to the physician.

"You look terrible, Merlin," Gaius frowned. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"A little," he replied. "Arthur got more sleep than I did."

"Well, that'll please the king."

"I doubt it," Merlin disagreed.

Gaius' frown deepened. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what was going on, but he could tell that Merlin needed to tell someone, and he was going to be the ear that listened.

"Arthur woke up every few minutes, but the tonic kept sending him back to sleep. And…" Merlin paused, breathed in and sorted the facts out in his mind. "He was dreaming, and it seemed to be the same dream each time. He would mutter while he dreamt, and… I couldn't make out everything he was saying, but he did say 'dragon', 'sorceress', and," Merlin paused again, struggling to control his breathing. "He would say my name, shortly afterwards, he'd wake up gasping for air."

Gaius said nothing, a grave look on his face. He could tell that Merlin had more to say, not much more, but still… more.

"And this morning, he couldn't remember how to buckle his boots up. And, when I suggested going downstairs to get him breakfast… I've never seen him so afraid. Just the thought that I was going to leave the room! It terrified him."

Merlin turned round to see Arthur staring at him, his eyes focused on him with an anxious look. As Merlin turned back to look at Gaius, he saw Uther had entered and was advancing at an alarming rate to him and Gaius. As he faced Gaius again, he knew that the older man had seen the king as well.

"How can this be a poison, Gaius?" he stated as Uther joined them. "I don't know of anything that can do this."

"No," Gaius looked towards the king, bowing his head in shame for a moment, before raising it again. "I have conducted every experiment that I know, and I have found no poison."

"No poison?" Uther hissed brokenheartedly. "Then how do you explain what is happening to my son? How do explain Arthur's state?!"

"The bracelet, your Majesty," Gaius answered slowly. "It bears the sorceress' mark. I… fear that this is an ailment brought about through magic, not poison."

Uther blanched. He turned to his son, and saw the innocent look on Arthur's face. It was something he hadn't seen since Arthur's mother had died. Arthur had aged considerably after that event, so had he for the matter.

"Will she stop at _nothing_to ruin me?" Uther whispered as he turned back to Gaius and Merlin. "That… witch… she, she was the one who killed Arthur's mother, my wife. She's already taken one member of my family with her magic… must she take all that I have left?"

Merlin suddenly felt very intrusive. This was not a conversation he wanted to hear, and yet there he stood listening to Uther. Then, out of the blue, he turned round to look at Arthur. Even as he did so, he knew that Uther hadn't missed the movement.

"Arthur seems uncomfortable with you being away from him," Uther noted. "Why is that do you think?"

Merlin looked at Uther and, shaking his head, shrugged his shoulders.

"It could be…" Gaius offered. "Merlin has been at Arthur's side since he started experiencing the effects of… this spell. It could be that he is using Merlin as something for him to hold onto the world, to stop the spell from completely submerging him."

Uther's mouth tightened, obviously not liking the idea. But Merlin wasn't sure what he objecting to, the fact that Arthur needed someone to ground him, or that that person was him. Either way, he wasn't about to ask.

Arthur had stopped trying to eat, but was watching the trio in front of him.

"Someone has to tell him," Gaius suddenly said. "He can't keep on thinking that he's been poisoned."

"I'll tell him," Uther declared, turning to Merlin. "I trust I can speak to him alone?"

"A… private word, Sire?" Merlin asked, and knew that Uther understood what he meant.

"Preferably."

"I'll take his sword out of his room, and anything else he might want to throw," Merlin murmured the last part, but, by the way Uther's face fell slightly, was sure that the king had heard him.

Regardless, Uther motioned him away and Merlin rejoined Arthur, who smiled at his friend's return. Arthur didn't question Merlin when he gestured out of the hall, but merely followed.

Uther resisted biting his lip, but he could not stop his hands from clenching into fists. He felt Gaius rest his hand lightly on his arm.

"Sire, Arthur is more a child, than a man, now. It would be best if you kept that in mind when you speak to him," Gaius reminded him gently.

"Do you have any ideas on how I explain this to him?" Uther asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid I cannot advise you, Sire. But, he is still your son," he consolidated.

As Merlin left the hall, with Arthur in tow, he spotted Gwen and Morgana making their way down to the hall. As they saw him, he slowly, deliberately, mouthed 'help me' to them. Though they both showed bewildered expressions, they could see that Merlin needed their help and followed.

Once they reached Arthur's room, Merlin motioned for Arthur to enter and told him to wait for him for a second. He spoke to the girls in the doorway.

"The king wants to explain to Arthur what's happening to him. Could you help me get as much out of the room as possible?" he begged.

"Has Gaius found the poison?" Gwen asked, hopefully.

"There is no poison," Merlin shook his head. "It's a spell."

Both Morgana and Gwen inhaled sharply; Gwen even put her hand to her face.

"Magic?!" Morgana asked appalled.

Merlin said nothing, not trusting his voice, but nodded. He waited while the pair regained their composure. They didn't speak but nodded in agreement.

Quickly, ignoring Arthur for the time, they removed his sword, any small, hard objects that they could find. They avoided even looking at Arthur, for they weren't sure how well they'd cope.

Finally, Uther knocked on the door. Morgana and Gwen looked at each other before leaving the room in a hurry, their arms full of Arthur's possessions. Merlin took a deep breath in and walked slowly to the door. He had almost made it through the threshold when–

"Merlin?! Merlin, where are you going?" Arthur demanded, his voice terrified.

"Merlin is waiting outside," Uther explained, in a hard voice. "Arthur, I want to talk to you."

"Can't Merlin stay?" he pleaded.

"No," his father replied forcefully. "Merlin, close the door on your way out."

"Sire," Merlin responded, stepping out and closing the door, but not before he saw Arthur's hurt and frightened face.

He stood there for a second, away from Arthur for the first time in two days. He could hear his breathing, it sounded strangely staggered and uncontrolled. He didn't look at Gwen or Morgana, afraid of what would happen if he did.

There, in the corridor, the trio stood silently, waiting.

Arthur squirmed as his father watched him. He stared down at his father's boots, fidgeting with his tunic absentmindedly. He was sure that Uther was waiting for him to speak first, to find out what he was thinking. He wasn't about to disappoint.

"Can Merlin come back in?" he asked.

"No, this is a conversation between you and me. Arthur… we've found out what's doing this to you."

"Poison," Arthur stated.

"No," Uther shook his head. "Magic," he corrected.

Arthur snorted loudly. He raised his eyes to meet his father's. A look of disgust on his face.

"Everything's about magic with you, isn't it?" he scoffed.

"What?" Uther frowned.

"Everything's about magic. You say that magic's done something, that way you can get away with doing nothing. You get out of helping if you blame magic," Arthur accused.

"I am helping. I am helping as best I can!" Uther objected, feeling his heart tear as Arthur shook his head violently.

"No. Gaius is helping, Gwen is helping, Morgana is helping… Merlin is helping! You– you do nothing!"

"I have been helping. I've been helping by protecting Camelot all these years," Uther explained, though his voice was getting harder by the minute.

"No, you're protecting Camelot now because you could be bothered to back then!" Arthur countered, shouting. "You couldn't be bothered to do anything back then, and that's why Mother died!"

Uther's eyes widened in shock, and he felt his whole body go numb. He knew that Arthur was not responsible for what he said, but couldn't help fearing that this is what Arthur truly believed, and that the spell had loosened his tongue.

"That is not true," he whispered, suddenly finding his voice had disappeared.

"You're lying!" Arthur shouted at him, before glancing around the room fearfully. "Where's Merlin?"

"Arthur…" Uther began, not sure on what he wanted to say.

"Merlin!" Arthur called, ignoring his father.

"Arthur," Uther's voice was stronger, trying to regain his son's attention.

"Merlin!!" Arthur shouted louder.

"Arthur," Uther warned.

"MERLIN!!" Arthur screamed, his eyes scrunched shut and his hands over his ears.

Uther gazed in horror at his son. He saw that his son was cowering now, at what, he could not guess. He realised that he could do no more and called out Merlin's name.

The young man opened the door at once, and Uther left the room, sparing him no glance.

Merlin watched the king walk down the corridor before stopping at an alcove, his head in his hands. Gaius was standing next to him, though Merlin had no idea what the pair were talking about. Besides, he had his own problem to sort out.

He walked slowly up to Arthur and gently eased the prince's hand from his head. He saw his friend's face turn from one of pain to pain, accusing pain.

"You left," Arthur glared at him.

"Your father ordered me to," Merlin explained. "I cannot disobey an order from the king."

"You left," Arthur repeated, pulling his hands back up to his face.

However, Merlin was still holding Arthur's wrists. He locked his arms into their current positions.

At this point Arthur was pulling harder on his arms, trying to bring his hands to his face. He twisted his wrists in an attempt to loosen Merlin's gentle, yet firm grip. He leaned forwards slightly before yanking himself back, only succeeding in hurting his wrists.

Seeing that that option was gone, Arthur then pushed his wrists towards Merlin, and then pulling back as harder as he could. The plan half-worked. One wrist was freed, and he decided to try that tactic again. However, he didn't lower his free wrist and sent in straight back to Merlin.

Merlin landed hard and felt his head crack as it hit the stone floor. He was dimly aware that someone had screamed, and it sounded like Gwen to him. Everything was bizarrely bright until a shadow leaned over him.

"Merlin? Can you hear me?" Gaius' voice floated around in his head.

Merlin could hear other sounds, someone was shouting, screaming, another was soothing. A third sounded like they were crying, while the last sounded like they were comforting.

He realised that moving his head was a bad idea. Instead, he blinked and scrunched up his face for a moment. The shadow sighed in relief.

"Can you see me?" Gaius' voice echoed again.

Knowing that he wasn't able to see anything lying down as he was, Merlin slowly tensed his arms and, shifting his weight, pushed himself onto his stomach. From there, he slowly raised his head to stare at the shadow. As he watched, the shadow gained colour and then shapes began forming until, finally, Gaius was staring worriedly at him.

"Gaius?" Merlin wasn't sure what he was asking, but a question seemed appropriate.

"Can you sit up?" Gaius asked him gently.

Merlin looked down at the floor and positioned his hands either side of his head. Then, he pushed up, sliding his knees under him. Finally he raised himself, resting on his knees. Now, he had a good view of what everyone was doing.

It had been Gwen crying, and Morgana was holding her shoulders, comforting her poor handmaiden. And, by judging how Arthur was, he reckoned that it had been the young prince shouting, in shock and guilt no doubt, and his father had been trying to calm him down.

Everyone was staring at him now, waiting for him to say something, now that he was more aware of everyone around him.

"Ow," he said simply, not knowing what else to say.

"Come on, Merlin," Gaius held Merlin by the arm and pulled him to his feet. "Let's get you back to my study. I can give you something there for your head."

Merlin was halfway to the door before he remembered his task.

"Arthur?" he asked feebly.

"We'll watch over him," Morgana promised, at which Gwen nodded her head in agreement.

With that, Merlin allowed himself to be guided back to Gaius' study. Once there, he promptly sat on a chair and as soon as he drew breath…

"I'd rather maintain a spotless idea of you Merlin, and not find out what profanities you know," Gaius warned.

Merlin sighed. He quickly surveyed the study and then spoke an incantation. The dull pain on the back of his head subsided, but his face began to throb.

"I suggest you let that bruise develop," Gaius advised.

"Is there any way to stop what's happening to Arthur?" Merlin asked, ignoring Gaius, but not proceeding to heal the oncoming bruise.

"My only guess would be magic, but I don't know where to start. Only Nimueh knows what spell has been cast."

"Then why don't we go and ask her?" Merlin asked rhetorically.

"That would be a feat," Gaius agreed, not noticing Merlin's tone. "And it would certainly be a way to end this."

Merlin looked at Gaius as if he had been struck by lightening. To him, it seemed like a perfectly good idea now. He watched Gaius carefully, and when the older man had his back turned, Merlin quickly got up and raced out of the room, picking up his bag on the way out.

He saddled up his horse quickly, magic-aided. And, before an hour had passed on the sundial, Merlin was gone.

* * *

Nimueh smiled down into the viewing mirror. This had worked out too perfectly for her. The future king would no longer be, Uther's spirit was almost crushed, and the sorcerer who had caused her so much trouble was willing coming to his death.

Her eyes flickered over to a small sphere, a golden light shone from within. The light was moving around the sphere, agitated.

She knew where Merlin would look first, and she would be there to meet him. As she left to prepare herself, she passed the sphere, and heard something from the light.

"_Help! Someone help me! Merlin! Gaius! Father! Someone please help me!"_


	6. Seeing Diferently

Author's note! Author's note! I was watching the episode Lancelot with my mum. When Merlin was trying out the spell, my mum commented that it sounded like Welsh. Now, I don't know if anyone else knows but… it is! The spells are in Welsh! Okay, in truth, they're just gobbledygook spoken in Welsh. I mean, the spell in the episode is 'she conceals tread (I didn't manage to translate the 'ke') they were flattening' in English. How cool is that?!

* * *

Merlin's eyes scanned the forest. This place was too quiet, too still. He had to be close to something, but what that something was, he could not tell.

He snapped his head to his right as a crow flew into the air, startled by something. It took a moment before he realised that he was staring at someone.

The person was smallish, and was hidden beneath a deep blue, large robe and hood. But, from the description Arthur had given the king, which Merlin had 'overheard', this was exactly the person he was looking for.

Merlin slid off the horse he had ridden, tying its reins loosely to a nearby branch. He then turned and advanced to the figure.

"Achlesa myfi chan amhara," he chanted, not bothering to keep his voice down.

Suddenly, his whole body felt strange, as if he had been doused in warm water and that water was sticking to him, bubbling on his skin. And, not knowing what he was walking into, it felt good to have a protective shield around him.

Once he was closer than he felt safe, he stopped and waited. And as he found out, he didn't have to wait long.

"I was wondering when you would come, Merlin," the figure lowered their hood.

"Nimueh…" he muttered, glaring at the sorceress.

"Now, now," she warned. "Let's keep ourselves civil, shall we?"

"Undo what you've done to Arthur," he demanded, his body tingled and all his senses were alert.

"Undo?" she sneered. "Why would I undo anything? He should have turned into a meaningless shell the moment he fell asleep on that first night! And he would have done, if you hadn't forged that protective spell about him! But, it seems to have spread more grief this way, so that regard I forgive you. But, as to undoing the spell, I cannot."

"Cannot, or will not?" Merlin challenged.

"Cannot," Nimueh answered. "There are only two spells cast on the prince: your spell of protection, and my marker."

"Marker?"

"Oh yes, Merlin. There are spells that can be cast to serve as a marker for others. It ensures that the spell reaches that person, or persons. It is a great spell to know, Merlin. I'm surprised that you do not know it."

Merlin decided to keep quiet about the fact that he'd only been learning magic spells for the best part of six months, and suppressed his shock at realising that he'd been in Arthur's service for half a year.

"Maybe… you haven't learnt it yet?" She guessed and, with the way she suddenly smiled, Merlin felt that he'd just let that secret out. "This is good, Merlin. This gives you a second option."

"A second option?" he asked warily.

"I could teach you," she stated. "I could teach you all the wonders of magic. I could show you how to bend it to your will, how to make it your servant. I could help you rise to the power that lies within you."

Merlin frowned, taking a reluctant, unconscious step forward. He stared at Nimueh, wary of what shoe was offering, and not understanding why she was offering.

"Why would you offer this to me? After all, you've tried to kill me a couple of times," he reminded her.

"I thought you were more experienced than you are, more… set in your ways. However, since this is not the case, I am willing to offer my hand, as your tutor."

"And what would make me even want your help?" Merlin scorned her. "I have more than enough in Camelot."

"Camelot will not be around for much longer," Nimueh curled her upper lip. "And, tell me, what exactly are you in Camelot? A servant, a useless, worthless servant. You would take that, rather than the power and respect that all sorcerers and sorceresses deserve?"

Merlin narrowed his eyes and felt his back straighten. He clenched his fists, and denied the anger that was rushing through him, which was bashing inside his ears, the ability to do anything.

"I would rather be a servant, with friends and people who I care about, who care for me, than be a sorcerer feared, hated and hunted by everyone," Merlin declared, feeling the strength within him burn like the proud fire that it was.

Nimueh looked at him with a hard, cold, calculating look. She pursed her lips in an amused fashion. She hid her hands in the arms of the robe.

"There is nothing that would sway your decision?" she asked quietly, but if she was waiting for Merlin to respond, she was going to be disappointed. "What if the prince's fate swung in the balance of your choice?"

Merlin didn't speak, but watched Nimueh with suspicious eyes. He didn't know what she was implying, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out.

Nimueh smiled callously, pulling her hands apart. In one was a small sphere, with a golden light moving inside it. The light seemed agitated, moving in the sphere at an alarming speed.

"Would you not sway for the prince?" she asked gleefully, holding out the sphere.

"Arthur," Merlin whispered, his resolve suddenly seemed less favourable.

"_Merlin!" _a familiar, if somewhat anxious, voice echoed from the sphere.

Merlin felt his heart skipped a beat. Although the voice sounded a little scared, he recognised Arthur's voice. But most importantly, it was _Arthur_. It wasn't some shell of the man that he was; it was the man… well, sort of.

"If you agree to join me, to let me teach you the truth of magic, then… you have my word that I will let Prince Arthur go. By the time your learning is complete, no one will recognise you as the insignificant servant that you were before," she smiled as she held out her hand, the sphere glowing in her palm. "Agree, and I will release him into your care."

"Ddyfynna beth awydda ata!" Merlin demanded, his hand stretched out.

Nimueh lurched forward, holding onto the sphere, before she stopped and sneered at him. She had just played along for her own entertainment.

"Did you really think that I was going to make such a simple, idiotic mistake?" she jeered. "You have much to learn, Merlin."

Merlin cursed at himself. He should have known that the sphere was protected by some form of spell, just like he was. No physical force could harm him under this spell, nor could any magic.

Merlin's brain, at that moment in time, kicked into overdrive, reeling with that information. He knew one way to break through the spell, but he was uncertain as to what it would take to cast such a spell.

"It seems that even your prince's life will not sway you," Nimueh stated, almost sadly. "Say goodbye to this world… servant boy, Merlin!"

"Dorri pawb bandau a doli pawb chlymau!" Merlin shouted, his whole being willing for this spell to work, to break all magical spells in the area.

Then, everything changed.

A strange light burned from behind his eyes. Merlin was aware of this light, as he saw it every time he cast magic, but he had never experienced it so strongly. It burned his eyes so much that Merlin closed his eyes and forced his hands to his face, pressing down on his eyes with such pressure, it felt like he was squashing his eyes.

But, as he closed his eyes, he only became more aware of how much of this strange light was inside him. It was a brilliant golden colour that burned like a thousand fires. And a fire it was, as it had spread all throughout his body.

As the pain subsided, he saw nothing but light when he opened his eyes. Everything around him was silver light, except for two parts, two shapes before him. One was shining a deep, blood red, evil and foreboding, while the other was as golden as Merlin was. A thin layer a blood red covered this light, however.

Merlin didn't have time to think or even react, when suddenly a wave of golden light, as solid as a wall, emanated out of him. It flew silently, reaching the other lights in a matter of seconds. As the wall of gold light crashed into the red, the red shimmering around the ball of gold dissipated.

* * *

Gaius waited in the courtyard, looking around at the people who passed by. His eyes locked onto Morgana as soon she came into sight, running in his direction. He noticed that Gwen wasn't that far behind her.

"I haven't seen him, he's not in the castle," Morgana announced as she reached the physician.

"And he's not in the town, either," Gaius added, shaking his head.

At this point, Gwen joined them, holding her side as she tried to catch her breath. Everyone waited until she could speak.

"He's not in the grounds," Gwen panted. "But, I went into the stables and… his horse is missing."

"We have to find him," Morgana declared. "Arthur is–"

"We know, milady," Gaius nodded, holding her shoulder supportively. "But there's very little we can do, now. If Merlin has taken his horse… there's no telling where he's gone."

"How could he do this?!" Gwen demanded, her voice quivering. "Arthur needs him, more than ever… and now he's done this."

"Gwen, you need to understand," Gaius explained, gently but with firmness in his voice. "Merlin has had to watch every change in Arthur. That is a very difficult thing to do. Not everyone is strong enough to endure that."

Gwen hung her head, her shoulders shaking. Silently, tears fell down her face, whether they were tears of shame for her words or tears of loneliness from missing Merlin, Gaius couldn't tell.

"How's Arthur doing?" Morgana asked cautiously.

"He stopped screaming about an hour ago," Gaius admitted quietly. "But, I am unsure as to how much of the Arthur we know is still in there. The spell has, however, seemed to have finished. He has not worsened for more than five hours, not that that is much comfort."

"Where is he?" Morgana asked, her voice nearly quieter than a ghost's breath.

"With his father," Gaius answered. "I believe Uther is not so judgemental of Merlin's departure any more."

"I doubt he'll be pleased to know that we couldn't find Merlin, though," Gwen noted.

"That is the problem that we must present to him, as unpleasant as it is," Gaius shook his head.

He then turned to enter the castle, Morgana and Gwen followed him silently. The servants stepped out of their way, not due to the fact that they were meant to, but because they knew that the trio had been looking for someone. Seeing them looking so dejected only meant that they were unsuccessful, and they had to report their failure to the king.

Gaius knocked softly on Arthur's door and waited for Uther, to compose himself sufficiently before granting them permission to enter. He led the way in and he stood before the king. He felt his heart wrench as he saw the king's desperate, hopeful expression, and wondered why he had to be the one to crush that hope.

He shook his head slowly, not trusting his voice. He watched Uther's face fall into despair. He saw Uther look down at the young man he was holding securely in his arms.

Uther closed his eyes as he rested his cheek on his son's blond head. He felt Arthur make no move to relieve himself of his father's touch.

"His horse is also missing," Gaius stated finally. "Wherever he is, we will not be able to find him."

Uther said nothing, but nodded, not moving.

"Sire," Gaius paused, cautious of what he was about to say. "Before Mer– before he disappeared," Gaius knew that saying Merlin's name would only set Arthur off. "We were talking about speaking to the one who had done this… I would not wish to raise your hopes, falsely, but it is possible that he left to speak to her."

Uther's eyes opened, and he straightened. He frowned, whether in anger or disbelief, Gaius couldn't tell.

"He will be killed if he does," he stated.

"Sire," Gaius bowed his head.

He moved over to the window and stared out of it. There was nothing better for him to do, and looking out to the peaceful world made him feel better than looking in at the despairing scene.

Then, he saw it. At first he had thought it was just a trick of the light, but as it advanced rapidly, without any sign of slowing, he realised what he was seeing.

It was a wave that rushed across the countryside, passing effortless through the villages and anything else in its way. Gaius had never seen magic acting like this, it was a wall of pure magic. The most frightening part of this wave was that it was approaching Camelot at a startling rate.

"Sire," Gaius stated, hearing the fear in his voice.

Uther opened his arm for Morgana to take Arthur's still figure. Once she had hold of him, he rose and joined the physician. His eyes followed Gaius' outstretched hand to stare at what he was pointing at.

Every part of him suddenly went ice cold.

The wave had reached Camelot and swept through the town. People had noticed its passing and were shrieking. Those were even screaming as they realised that the wave rose to encompass every building it passed. Then it reached the castle.

The wave disappeared. Both Uther and Gaius leaned out of the window, staring downwards. Neither of them could see the wave and suddenly felt very insecure.

Uther stepped back into the middle of the room, staring round, watching the walls and the floors.

"What is it?" Morgana asked, turning to observe Uther, leaving one hand on Arthur's back.

Then, two things happened. The wave suddenly broke through the floor and swept upwards passing upwards through the room before entering the ceiling. And as the wave passed Arthur's head, the prince jerked and screamed.

Arthur curled up defensively, his hands clenched over his head. He was almost tearing out his hair before Uther had crossed the room and joined his son, shaking his hands loose. Arthur shook and jerked as he cried out in surprise and pain.

Then, he was still. He blinked several times before making eye contact with his father. However, Uther could see no sign of recognition in his son's sight, just a confused, slightly frightened young man.

Arthur was gone.

* * *

Nimueh staggered back. She had not been expecting the spell, obviously. And, she was furious.

Merlin wasn't sure how he knew this, but he just did. It was just like he knew that the sphere was unprotected now. He couldn't understand how he knew anything considering that all he could see was light.

He had felt the defensive shield, which he had placed about himself, fall to nothing. But he was aware that Nimueh was oblivious to this fact. He decided to chance his option.

"Ddyfynna beth awydda ata!" He demanded, again his hand outstretched.

Then, the golden light flew from the red and he felt himself catching the sphere. How bizarre it was for him, to see himself catching light but to feel a smooth sphere instead.

He wasn't about to spend time and think it over. He turned around and raced back to his horse.

"Rhyddha 'r bandau!" he cried and knew that the reins had been untied.

He then felt his legs stop as he continued forward. He felt the sphere leave his hands as he landed roughly on the forest floor, a crunching sound echoed in his ears. The golden light rested on the silver ground. He turned around to see the red light advancing towards him.

"Anfon ar gerdded!" He yelled, feeling relief as the red light was suddenly thrown back from him.

He scrambled to his feet and picked up the light. He raced to his horse and felt himself landing himself squarely on the horse's back. He urged it into a full gallop, ignoring the fact that it looked like he was riding silver light, focusing on returning to Camelot.

As he raced across the countryside, he saw people in a way that he never had. Everyone was silver light, but within them would be a mixture of red and gold light. Every person was different, the amount of gold to red was unique to each individual. Merlin felt that he was finally seeing people the way that they were meant to be seen.

The clip-clop of his horse's shoes on cobblestone, brought Merlin's attention to the fact that he had entered Camelot. He could hear the passers-by calling out and he was sure that his name was mentioned more than once.

He didn't stop until he reached the stables, and left his horse in the hands of a stable boy. He tucked the sphere under his arm and ran to the main courtyard. Euphoria was pulsing through him as he realised how close he was. He had brought Arthur back, and now he merely had to bring the two halves together.

He stopped suddenly as five knights stood before him, their swords drawn and pointing at his chest. He could see the swirl of silver, red and gold in each of them, and could see how much gold was in them. These were good men, he reasoned.

He looked past them and, somehow, saw that Uther, Gaius, Gwen and Morgana were approaching him. His stomach clenched as he realised that there was a fifth person with them. This person was pure silver, there was nothing inside. This person… was Arthur.

Feeling relief wash over him as much as dread, he took the sphere into his hands. He was ecstatic, he could return Arthur to himself much sooner than he had thought. Then, everything fell from beneath him.

The sphere, the vessel that held Arthur, was silver. There was no gold radiating from it. The light, Arthur's light, was gone. As he turned it over in his hands and felt a small crack on the smooth surface.

A crack… he suddenly felt fear. His mind flew back to the forest, when he had fallen and wondered, terrified, if that was when the sphere had cracked. If it had, the he had ridden all this way with an empty sphere, and felt his fear intensify as he questioned himself as to the whereabouts of Arthur, and if the prince had just disappeared, the sphere being the only thing that kept him in the world.

But all these thoughts were secondary. The first and most pressing thought was the most distressing. He had failed. He had failed to protect Arthur. He had failed Arthur.

He was vaguely aware of his knees hitting the floor as his legs gave way. He bowed his head and felt his body curl to the point that his forehead touched ground. The sphere was caged beneath his back.

"Merlin?" Gaius' voice sounded very close and very concerned.

He weakly raised his head to stare at the light which, somehow, he knew was Gaius. He felt tears running down his face, and he didn't care. Tears were the last thing on his mind.

"I… failed," he whispered, handing out the sphere, which Gaius took cautiously. "I've failed," he repeated as he returned his forehead to the ground.

Gaius frowned concernedly at the young man who laid, crumpled, at his feet. Then, seeing that Merlin wasn't going to move, he turned his attention to the object he had been given. It was a smooth sphere with markings all over it. One stood out most to him, Nimueh's mark. It was then that he noticed the small crack, and felt the colour drain from his face.

He understood what had been in this sphere, what Merlin had done, and what the crack meant.

He knelt before the young magician and placed his hand gently on the man's back. Although it wasn't surprising, he felt hurt when Merlin shook his hand off, cringing at the comforting touch.

"You did all that you could," Gaius consoled. "No one could have come so far, done so much."

He heard sounds behind him as the others caught up with the situation. Despair was obvious from the sounds, and he was sure that Morgana was now crying, probably into Arthur's shoulder, since she had been guiding him down here.

Merlin said nothing, but instead listened to all the sounds, including his own, harsh breaths. But then…

"_Merlin… get up,"_ Arthur's voice commanded.

Merlin froze. He knew that voice, it was the voice of his friend, not the stranger that he had turned into.

"_Merlin, get up."_

Merlin raised his head and found he was staring at the silver figure. He rose and walked fearlessly to the prince. He ignored all questions, but continued to stand, extremely close, to Arthur. He reached out with his hand, and waited.

A moment paused before Arthur moved his head to look at the hand. And then, he reached his out and took Merlin's.

Merlin was marginally aware of Morgana's shriek, as she recoiled from the pair of them. He had something much more important to focus on.

A light, part silver, part gold, and only slightly red, was snaking up his body and across his arm. The light didn't pause as it left Merlin and slid effortlessly into Arthur. The light filled him completely, turning the lifeless silver into a multitude of silver, gold and red. The sight was breathtaking.

Finally, the light had left Merlin and had filled Arthur completely. The mixture swirled within the young man in a perfect harmony that Merlin could only marvel at.

He could see the prince staring at him, confused and disoriented. It was then he appreciated that he was far too close, and promptly stepped back.

"What is this?!" Uther thundered, his voice edged dangerously with anger.

Merlin realised that he had just done powerful magic in front of a man who would destroy magic as soon as look at it. He racked his brain to think of some explanation. But, the more he thought, the harder it was becoming to think, and harder not to panic.

"Merlin," Gaius addressed him gently. "What is in your pocket?"

Merlin turned to stare at Gaius and then, after a brain-frozen moment, he looked down to his jacket. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and when he brought them out…

In his hand was a small chess piece. It was a white king. It felt warm in the hand and that was understandable, since it had been in his pocket for a day.

It Merlin a second to recognise the fact that he had put the chess piece in his pocket when he had been clearing Arthur's room in preparation for the big reveal that he had a spell over him, rather than a poison.

"What's going on?" Arthur asked, looking around nervously, with the sharp eyes that everyone recognised.

Morgana unfroze first, shrieking in relief and delight, and wrapped her arms around Arthur's neck. She was laughing hysterically, tears flowing freely from her.

Arthur was taken aback by Morgana's sudden emotional outburst. He slowly, cautiously, laid his hands softly on her back. He patted her back gently, comforting. All the while, total confusion never left his face, which was quite a comical look for him.

Uther smiled in pure relief and joy as he walked over to his son. He touched Morgana gently on the shoulder, at which she relinquished her hold. He held Arthur's face in his hands and slowly lowered his forehead to touch Arthur's. Then, he stood back and turned to Merlin.

"What did you do?" he asked gently, too relieved to have his son back to be angry.

"I believe it was that chess piece, Sire," Gaius interjected. "Since the vessel that was being used was damaged, another was found and used. Arthur must have known it was there and used it. What luck that Merlin had one of Arthur's possessions with him."

"A reminder of your loyalties?" Uther asked Merlin.

"Something like that," Merlin admitted, silently thinking how appropriate it was that Arthur had kept himself inside a king piece.

Morgana didn't speak. Instead, she walked up to him. She looked at him for a moment, before wrapping her arms around him, squeezing his ribs slightly.

Pain flared through Merlin's side, and he gasped in shock and pain. The gentle pressure of Morgana left him, but the pain continued. He was sure that someone was speaking to him, but the words were incoherent to him. The bright lights that he was starting to grow accustomed to, faded and died, leaving his sight black.

And then, he lost feeling. He couldn't feel his body or his legs, but had the distinct feeling that he was falling.


	7. Fragile Peace

Author's note: Yes, this ends in a cliff hanger. But that's because I'm starting a sequel! I'd like to thank everyone for their reviews, and especially to Spirited.Karma, for giving me the inspiration for the sequel.

* * *

Merlin opened his eyes. He was dimly aware that he was lying on something lumpy, yet comfortable. After inhaling deeply through his nose, he noticed that the place smelt familiar, but it was more than that… it smelt of home.

Slowly, very slowly, Gaius' study came into focus. He smiled slightly as he realised where he was, and that he was probably lying on Gaius' couch, which often held the sick and injured.

He tensed himself, preparing to get up, when a dull pain stabbed at him from his side. He hissed quietly and looked at his chest. He was devoid of a shirt, but was covered in bandages. Most of the padding was on his right side, just a little higher than his elbow. Frowning slightly, he moved his left hand towards it.

"Hey!"

A youthful hand flicked his away from the padding, a hand that was slightly larger than his. This hand belonged to a wrist that wore a well fabricated tunic sleeve.

Merlin twisted his head slowly to find himself staring into the sharp, observant eyes of his friend, his master, his prince.

"Arthur!" he smiled.

"Good to see you up," Arthur smiled his usual, cocky smile in return, feeling slightly amused that Merlin was relieved to see him. "You had everyone worried for a while. I didn't take you as fainter, even if it was Morgana who hugged you," he teased.

Merlin couldn't believe his ears. Arthur was teasing him! It seemed like the spell had never happened, but he knew that it had. His shoulder was sore and was almost positive that the bruise had blossomed gruesomely across his face.

"You look like a mess," Arthur commented lightly, obviously thinking along the same lines. "I… guess you have me to thank for that though," he said, suddenly deflating.

"You don't remember?" Merlin asked slowly, not sure if he wanted to know.

"Uhhh…" Arthur stalled, leaning back against Gaius' table. "Some of it," he admitted quietly.

Merlin didn't speak. He was unsure as to whether Arthur would want to talk about this, or whether his friend would want to change the subject.

"I remember the first day, with the serving girl," Arthur continued after a pause.

Merlin also remembered that day. Arthur had heard him saying thoughts that he hadn't intending on sharing with the prince.

"After that, I remember only the vague details. Feeling… tired, frustrated, angry… afraid."

Merlin continued to listen, not knowing what he could say to ease the tensions in the room. And, he knew how difficult admitting this would be for the very proud Prince Arthur Pendragon, of Camelot.

"I have asked the others for an account, but they keep turning round and telling me to speak to you," he stated. "I understand that Father ordered you to… keep an eye on me."

"You… want to know what happened?" Merlin frowned.

"I don't need to know everything but, there are some things that…" Arthur trailed off, and he shifted his position against the table, massaging the back of his neck.

"What do you want to know?" Merlin asked cautiously.

"What did I do?" Arthur asked in reply, subconsciously touching the area below his eye, in the exact spot where he'd hit Merlin in the face

Merlin noticed and quickly understood what Arthur was asking. He raised his left hand to touch his face, wincing slightly as he touched the bruise.

"Fist," he stated casually, ignoring when Arthur squirmed. "And a goblet," he answered as he moved his hand to his shoulder.

"That's it?" Arthur asked hopefully.

"You had a shouting match with your father. No one won," Merlin summed up.

"Ah, that explains why he's avoiding me. What was it about?" Arthur frowned apprehensively.

"I don't know," Merlin answered truthfully. "I wasn't in the room at the time."

Arthur nodded, looking away from Merlin. He looked about the study as he thought about what he was about to say.

"Thanks," he finally said.

Merlin was about to try and sit up, but when he tried, he felt his ankle twinge. He inhaled sharply through his teeth, wincing at the pain.

"Gaius said he was amazed that you made it so far on that foot," Arthur stated, a small frown of concern lay across his brow.

"Yeah well…" Merlin cleared his throat as he realised his voice was an octave or two higher than he liked it to be. "I had something more pressing than a sprained ankle on my mind."

"How did it happen?" Arthur asked, genuinely troubled by Merlin's condition.

"I… tripped," Merlin replied, knowing full well that he could say the truth, well… the whole truth anyway.

Arthur cracked a grin and breathed out a laugh at his servant's explanation. It was so like Merlin to say that he tripped, but maybe that was because he did it so often.

He then realised that Merlin had tensed up. His attempt to lighten the mood had failed, and he suddenly felt desperate to know what was troubling his friend.

"What's wrong?"

"The sphere cracked because I tripped," Merlin spat, astonishing Arthur. "It was sheer luck that I had something else for you to…" Merlin trailed off, before lifting his head up slightly then whacking it against the pillow.

Arthur understood what Merlin was talking about. He knew that he was referring to the fact that the sphere that the sorceress, Nimueh, had placed him in had cracked. Merlin had, by chance, a white king chess piece in his pocket, and Arthur had somehow retreated to that. He couldn't understand how he could have done that, but he could see the logic in the move.

The sphere, as he had seen it, was a fairly large object. This meant that it could easily break or be taken from Merlin. The chess piece, however, was small and a fairly tough thing to break. And since it was in Merlin's pocket, it made sense to be somewhere that was that safe. No one knew the piece was there and it would not have been stolen. It was a logical place to hide.

"Well, I'm here," he raised his arms as if to further prove this point. "And, it wasn't exactly your fault that you tripped."

"What?" Merlin frowned confused.

"There are burn marks on your ankle," Arthur pointed out. "Gaius thinks that they were made with magic. The sorceress tripped you on purpose. And, I think it was just bad luck that you landed on a small rock."

Merlin instinctively looked to his side, realising what had happened. Saying nothing, he looked back to Arthur and nodded.

The pair remained silent, not moving, for a moment. Then Arthur pushed himself off Gaius' table.

"Well, I'd better see what else I can do. I'm sure I've got things to catch up on."

Arthur walked to the door, and paused when he heard Merlin wince in pain as he struggled to move. When the young man called his name, Arthur turned around, one hand on the door.

"Even if your father hadn't ordered me to, I still would have been at your side," Merlin assured him.

Arthur said nothing for a moment. Then he smiled grimly.

"I know," he nodded.

Arthur turned back to face the door, opened it and walked out.

* * *

Merlin grimaced in pain as he crossed the room to join Gaius. He had been given a crutch by the physician, but his ankle still hurt and his side was beginning to burn again.

"You did a very brave thing, Merlin," Gaius announced as they sat down to eat. "To face Nimueh as you did, it took great courage."

"It took great stupidity, more like," Merlin sulked into his meal. "She's furious at what I did. Everything had been going perfectly for her, and then I come in and ruin it all for her."

"Her loss, I'm sure," Gaius reassured the young magician.

"She's coming," Merlin declared, staring out the window. "She's coming to Camelot."

"Not for a while, Merlin, I can assure you," Gaius replied, uneasy about his apprentice's surety, this feeling made even worse when he shook his head.

"No, Gaius… Nimueh's coming. I can see her, pure red in an ocean of silver. She's quite some distance away… and she's not hurrying. I should have enough time," Merlin murmured.

He had explained to Gaius his new sight, and had found that the lights were fainter and he could see the real world, with the lights as nothing more than a background visual marker, a small hint for him to see what people were like.

"Enough time?" Gaius frowned, not liking where this conversation was leading.

"Yeah, enough time," Merlin looked back at Gaius. "Enough time to prepare."

"Merlin… prepare for what?" Gaius demanded.

"A stand against her," Merlin clarified reluctantly, not liking the fact any more than Gaius. "And this time, she'll be the one running away."

They did not speak for there rest of the night. Merlin turned his head to look out the window. There, he stared at the small blotch of red on the landscape approaching.

He didn't dare think about what would happen once the two of them met, but he was more than willing to bet that it would be explosive.


End file.
